Kalshi records $ 1,73 billion in esports betting in last 12 months
27 October 2026
Kalshi, Polymarket, other prediction markets; you have probably heard of them as they move from one controversial headline to the next. From bets on presidential elections and military invasions to manipulated odds and insider trading all the way up to the White House; there seems to be no end to the drama.
To such an extent, in fact, we would almost forget that prediction markets have also grown into hugely popular destinations for international esports betting. Previously mentioned Kalshi, for example, turns out to have cleared no less than $ 1,73 billion in esports bets in the past twelve months, counting backwards from October 2026.
1 year of esports betting
It is no coincidence that we are looking back on international esports betting on Kalshi now, as the platform only started offering bets on esports in October of 2025. At the time, they started with a single market (“Who will win League of Legends Worlds?”) and they ended up doing around $ 5 million worth of esports bets that month. From that moment onwards until August, each month was showing more income from esports betting than the next.
As a matter of fact, September 2026 was the first month since Kalshi started offering esports betting where the total value of bets placed decreased. In August 2026, the platform processed no less than $ 391 million in esports bets and that number got stuck at $ 241 million a month later.
Busy international esports summer
It should be noted that, just like in real sports, international events and tournaments have a big influence on betting patterns as well. Where football bets go to the moon during a World Cup, for example, esports bets follow a similar pattern when there is a big event on. This explains why Kalshi saw such a growth in total income from esports betting over the summer. June included the IEM Cologne Major (Counter-Strike). August had the Esports World Cup and, of course, Dota 2’s The International (TI). The combination of two large events in August produced the peak, and North America’s love of Counter-Strike meant that June produced impressive numbers too.
Difference with bookmakers
When looking at the most recent Kalshi numbers, it is important to keep in mind that traded volumes on prediction markets are not exactly equal to bets processed by online bookmakers. At a prediction market, we count contracts traded, and trading in and out of a position therefore makes the number rise without any additional cash going in. At an online bookmaker, the total bet amount is the total number of bets placed, in dollars or another currency.
Volume traded is interesting for another reason though, especially for the fans of international esports. That is because volume traded on an event, for example, is a fairly good barometer as to how much attention it commanded. This kind of data can be invaluable for tournament organizers, publishers, and sponsors to sit alongside viewership data. It also helps to show that esports is more than just video games and people yelling that it is “the industry of the future”.