An analyst from US financial services firm Truist has claimed that bettors between the ages of 18 and 20 could be “contributing significantly” to the expansion of prediction markets.
allow participants as young as 18 to open accounts
CNBC Correspondent Contessa Brewer cited Truist Managing Director Barry Jonas, who made the claim that bettors too young to qualify for legal sportsbooks are potentially turning to brands such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which both allow participants as young as 18 to open accounts.
Arguably adding weight to Jonas’s claim is data from US sportsbook performance-predicting firm HoldCrunch that reveals college football attracts more trades on Kalshi than the NFL or NBA.
HoldCrunch data states that as of January 4, Kalshi’s college football handle “hit its highest percentage of total at 32%,” compared to the NFL and NBA accounting for only 24% and 22%, respectively, of total wagers.
While teens might be behind the growth of prediction markets, the vertical is, according to sports wager tracking app Juice Reel, more inclined to favor professional bettors.
CNBC cited the CEO of Juice Reel Ricky Gold as stating: “Some of the biggest and best bettors are going to prediction markets because they’re limited to smaller bets by the sportsbooks.”
Jonas concurred, stating the divisive vertical “amplifies “bettor skill and variance.” The Truist analyst added prediction markets “show substantially larger downside for low-wallet users and substantially higher upside for high-wallet users.”
