“South Park” has a reputation for having its finger on the pulse of the big trends in the US. The long-running animated comedy series aired episode five of its 27th season on Wednesday night, featuring prediction market platforms heavily.
kids at South Park Elementary obsessed with these apps
The episode starts with the kids at South Park Elementary obsessed with these apps. Stan, for instance, talks about how they allow people to “make any bet they want and users take them up on it.”
After hearing from Cartman about some of the unsavory markets that kids are betting on, Kyle becomes enraged and goes to President Trump to try to put a stop to the platforms, while his mother also gets involved with tracking down those responsible.
Popular prediction platforms like Kalshi were active on social media leading up to the episode; Kalshi even had a market on whether or not someone in the episode would say the word “gambling.”
Dustin Gouker posted on X a screenshot of the number of people searching for Kalshi and Polymarket, with the graph showing a spike around the time that the “South Park” episode aired:
More and more people in the US are turning to prediction sites. Trading volume has especially spiked since the start of the NFL season, which is always a lucrative time of the year for traditional gambling sites.
