The US Open has ignited controversy by announcing a deal with Kalshi, the prediction market platform, raising concerns about its potential impact on players. Several tennis stars, including Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Matteo Berrettini, and Linda Nosková, have shared strong opinions about the new partnership.
What Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Others Said About the US Open’s Partnership with Kalshi
On Monday, Aug. 31, the US Open announced an “exclusive, multi-year agreement” with Kalshi, naming it the first Official Prediction Market Partner of the tournament. While Kalshi describes itself as a prediction market platform, much of its activity and popularity stems from sports betting.
Pegula addressed the new partnership during her post-match press conference after claiming a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sofia Kenin in the second round. She highlighted that the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) did not allow players to profit from sponsorships with betting companies, while tournaments did not have the same restrictions.
“Yeah, that’s been a conversation I think that’s been going on for a bit as far as, you know, players can’t do anything off of a betting type of sponsorship, but the tournaments profit off of a lot of that stuff,” Pegula said.
The world No. 3 shed light on the challenge of seeing a company like Kalshi being promoted across tournament grounds while players continued to receive hate and abuse from bettors online.
“It’s a tricky question because we get a lot of negativity from people that use stuff like that, from bettors, whether you win or lose, right? It doesn’t even matter sometimes. We get a lot of hate for it on social media. So, it’s tough when you see that and then they’re a big sponsor behind the court or they’re on TV and it’s tricky,” she added.
Nevertheless, Pegula acknowledged such partnerships were “inevitable” as betting became increasingly normalized across other sports.
“I mean, it’s everywhere and it’s not really going away anytime soon, especially when I look at other sports. I mean, betting is a big part of keeping fans engaged. So, I don’t know. I go back and forth with that one,” she said.
Meanwhile, Keys emphasized the importance of protecting players’ mental well-being while speaking to the press about the move following her 7-5, 6-4 triumph over Alina Korneeva in the first round.
“To be completely honest, I had no idea until you just said that. So, I don’t feel like I have a great idea or stance on it just because I’ve been pretty not in the loop on things like that. But, like I’ve always said, protecting players’ mental health is always number one and as long as there’s some sort of plan in place for that then I guess we’ll see in the future if there is,” Keys said.
Several other players also spoke to Bounces about the US Open’s deal with Kalshi. Echoing Keys’ sentiments, Berrettini stressed the importance of protecting players from receiving “scary” messages from bettors.
“We’re 30 years old—we’re big boys and stuff. But if I’m thinking about the girls and the younger ones, to receive these kind of messages can be scary. We’re tennis players, you know? So it’s important to protect us,” Berrettini said.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Nosková questioned whether the partnership would exacerbate the online abuse players faced from bettors, expressing her belief it was not the best way to promote the sport.
“All the bad comments and these negative feedbacks that we are getting after our wins or losses; I don’t know if [because of this deal] there’s going to be a bigger percentage of people writing to us or not,” Nosková said. “But at the same time, it’s all sport, tennis-connected so I guess it’s good for some people. I don’t think it is the best way to promote tennis, to promote sport. But at the same time, it’s business, so we can’t do much.”
Clara Tauson also expressed her discontent with the partnership, quipping, “I thought the U.S.T.A. had a lot of money, but apparently not enough.”
Meanwhile, Alejandro Tabilo described the deal as “strange” and suggested that it gave “a little more incentive to the people to bet, and then they come to our Instagram and they bombard us with hate.”
On the tennis front, Jessica Pegula and Linda Nosková have booked their spots in the third round of the US Open, while Madison Keys secured a place in the second round. On the other hand, Matteo Berrettini fell short against Mariano Navone in the second round of the New York Major.
