Prediction Markets Challenge Sportsbooks by Adopting High-Reward Multi-Bet Features
New York, Friday, 16 January 2026.
Kalshi and Polymarket are aggressively adopting parlay features to rival traditional sportsbooks, with Kalshi’s new “combos” generating over $100 million in weekly trading volume alone.
The Strategic Shift to Accumulators
The industry-wide push into “parlays”—also known as accumulators in the UK and “multis” in Australia—represents a calculated effort to penetrate the $14 billion U.S. sports gambling industry [1]. While prediction markets have traditionally relied on binary event contracts, platforms are now prioritizing these multi-leg wagers, which Bank of America has characterized as the “killer app” for operators due to their outsized contribution to profit margins [2]. Kalshi has moved swiftly to capitalize on this demand with its new “combos” feature, which the company reports generated more than $100 million in trading volume in a single week [2]. Simultaneously, Polymarket is experimenting with bundled bets and offering financial incentives to users who assist in creating viable multi-leg markets [2].
Sports Overtake Politics
This product evolution aligns with a fundamental shift in user behavior observed since the start of the 2025 NFL season [2]. Data analysis covering the period from October 2024 to January 2026 indicates that sports betting has surpassed political forecasting in both trading volume and fee generation on these platforms [2]. Following the surge in activity during the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle, political trading volumes declined, while sports-related market activity has demonstrated sustained growth, accelerating notably from the autumn of 2025 [2]. Bank of America estimated in November 2025 that prediction markets had captured between 3% and 8% of the U.S. online sports betting market, signaling their transition from niche forecasting tools to mainstream competitors [2].
Liquidity Constraints and Regulatory Friction
Despite the high revenue potential, implementing parlays presents distinct structural challenges for prediction markets compared to traditional incumbents like DraftKings and FanDuel [2]. Unlike sportsbooks that can easily bundle fixed odds, prediction exchanges require sufficient liquidity for every individual leg of a wager to function effectively [1][2]. Executives at traditional operators remain skeptical of the threat, arguing that prediction markets currently lack the depth of betting options—particularly for same-game parlays—found in regulated sportsbooks [2].