Polymarket, Kalshi Outpace Sportsbooks in App Downloads at NFL Season Kickoff

^{Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan (left) and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour (right)}

Prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi outpaced sportsbooks in app downloads in the U.S. and Canada during the first week of the NFL season*, according to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower cited by Legal Sports Report.

Betting and prediction apps combined for roughly 3 million downloads from September 9-14 — up 11% year-over-year. Polymarket picked up 762,000 downloads and Kalshi 592,000, together accounting for 45% of all downloads in the category.

That momentum also showed up in trading volume. On September 13, Kalshi logged a record $2.46 billion in trades in a single day. Combo-style predictions — similar to sportsbook parlays — made up 61% of the weekend’s trading volume.

Novig also made the list with 28,000 downloads. The platform recently found itself at the center of controversy over its Sydney Sweeney ad, which several prominent athletes criticized for sexualizing women.

Among sportsbooks, DraftKings led with 415,000 downloads, followed by FanDuel with 265,000.

Rounding out the list:

• bet365 — 104,000
• Hard Rock — 97,000
• Fanatics — 81,000
• BetMGM — 64,000
• Caesars — 40,000
• BetRivers — 28,000
• Bally Bet — 22,000

DraftKings downloads were down 46% compared with the first week of last year’s NFL season, while FanDuel downloads fell 36%.

Separately, analysts at investment firm Citizens compared the vig charged by Kalshi, FanDuel, and DraftKings across 28 bets on game outcomes and totals. Kalshi’s vig came in 3 percentage points below FanDuel’s and 4 points below DraftKings’.

Despite the decline in downloads for DraftKings and FanDuel, activity among existing customers increased. According to GeoComply, betting activity on September 13 was up 176% compared with two weeks before the season started. That same day, 135,700 new sportsbook accounts were created — more than 310% higher than two weeks earlier.

* NFL (National Football League) — the top professional American football league in the U.S.