Online “Prediction Market” Kalshi Donates $20K to Political Committees in Arkansas

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Gambling “prediction market” platform Kalshi has donated $20,000 toward political campaigns in Arkansas this year, according to records on the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website.

“Prediction markets” are companies that exploit loopholes in state and federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. While traditional gambling operates under state oversight and state law, prediction market platforms claim protection under federal commodities laws, letting people wager hundreds of millions of dollars on sports, elections, and other events without being accountable to state regulators.

So far this year, Kalshi has donated a total of $20,000 to three different political action committees in Arkansas. Political action committees — or PACs — typically work to elect or defeat candidates for public office. The money that a PAC raises can be given to a candidate’s campaign or the PAC can use it to run their own campaign ads for or against candidates.

ContributorContributor AddressCandidate or CommitteeTransaction AmountTransaction Date
Kalshi, Inc594 Broadway Street, Suite 407, New York, NY, 10012Build Strengthen & Empower PAC$5,00009/28/2026
Kalshi594 Broadway, Suite 407, New York, NY, 10012Pillar Leadership PAC$5,00009/25/2026
Kalshi, Inc.594 Broadway, Ste. 407, New York, NY, 10012Team SHS (Sarah Huckabee Sanders) PAC$10,00009/21/2026

We have written before about how prediction markets are deeply troubling. Some of these companies have been accused of using deceptive videos and fake wins to appeal to young people on social media. Others have been taken to court for refusing to abide by state gambling and consumer protection laws.

This kind of predatory gambling destroys families. Internet gambling is ruining lives, and prediction markets are part of the problem.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Initial Research from UNLV Shows Sports Betting Linked to Gambling Problem

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Photo Credit: Alpha Photo via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Initial data from UNLV researchers shows problem gambling rates are high among sports bettors in Colorado. Colorado’s Problem Gambling Coalition reportedly awarded UNLV a grant to study gambling behavior in the state earlier this year.

Sports betting is legal to varying degrees in most states — including Arkansas, where people are on track to wager nearly a billion dollars on sports alone this year. But evidence shows sports betting may have unintended consequences. Gambling disorder diagnoses have spiked in states with legalized sports betting. Studies have found people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

So far, UNLV’s data out of Colorado has found 7% of sports gamblers suffer from gambling problems. Researchers tell media outlets that rate is concerning.

Besides gambling disorders, sports betting has been linked to other serious problems.

Sports betting hurts personal finances. Researchers at BYU found that sports betting has led to families saving “significantly less” money, and a study by Northwestern University found that for every dollar spent on sports betting, household investment fell by an average of $2.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, researchers at UCLA, and bankruptcy attorneys across the country all say sports betting is driving a wave of financial problems like credit card delinquencies and bankruptcies.

Sports betting hurts individuals, families, and communities. Research shows that young men who wager on sports may be at increased risk of physical and mental harm. Some studies have also linked legal sports betting to increases in divorce, binge drinking, domestic violence, and violent crime. These problems affect more than just gamblers. They hurt families and whole communities.

Sports betting is predatory. According to an investigative report from The New York Times, sportsbook DraftKings developed an AI algorithm that scored users based on their gambling frequency, daily account balances, and the ratio of their losses to total wagers. The higher a user’s score, the more DraftKings targeted them with promotions. In other words, DraftKings used cutting-edge technology to identify and target the gamblers who may have been most vulnerable to addiction.

Researchers have repeatedly voiced concerns about sports betting advertisements that aggressively target young adults. Some platforms have been accused of hiring social media influencers to record deceptive videos appealing to young gamblers. A report from Common Sense Media found that among boys exposed to gambling content online, 59% said the content appeared in their feeds without them looking for it.

Sports betting is not a harmless pastime. As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise, problem gambling will simply hurt more and more people in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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A Parent’s Guide To Betting Apps

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The organization Axis has written a guide to help parents understand and address betting apps with their kids.

Axis provides videos and resources for parents to have gospel-centered conversations with their children about faith and culture. One recent video helps parents understand how sportsbook apps turn sports fans into gamblers and why young men are especially vulnerable.

In its parents’ guide to betting apps, Axis writes:

Like many parents, Kim Freudenberg knew that raising two boys would come with tough discussions. She would need to talk to them about drugs and alcohol. Sex would be an important topic. Clearly, social media would need to be a regular household conversation.

What Freudenberg and many other moms and dads didn’t know when their children were young was that there would be a new tough topic on the scene: betting.

“Never once did I even think that I needed to say ‘gambling,’” Freudenberg told NPR.

But as it turned out, her 19-year-old son had been gambling for eight years. She had no idea until he’d been doing this until he dropped out of college and the truth came to light. She discovered that her son had sold household items, borrowed money from friends, and at the height of his debt desperation, stolen money from her.

This all began when Freudenberg’s son clicked on a link he saw in the comments of a video game livestream he was watching. The link took him to an offshore online casino where he began to play blackjack, poker, and roulette. He was 11 years old—seven to ten years younger than the legal gambling age for every state in the U.S..

The guide from Axis goes on to highlight how sports betting apps may particularly appeal to teens.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 39 states — including Arkansas, where people wagered $56.6 million on sports in August alone. But a growing body of evidence shows this type of gambling is harmful.

Studies show people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. When sports gambling happens online, the rate is even higher. A 2025 survey found one in four sports bettors worry that they cannot control their gambling.

Problem gambling may contribute to other serious problems. Some studies have linked legal sports betting to increases in divorce, binge drinking, domestic violence, and violent crime.

Twenty-year-old males account for approximately 40% of calls to gambling addiction hotlines, and upwards of 20 million men are in debt or have been in debt as a result of sports betting.

Sportsbooks and online gambling platforms have been accused to using deceptive videos, predatory ads, and artificial intelligence to target people who may be at risk of gambling problems.

Sports betting is not a harmless pastime. As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise, problem gambling will simply hurt more and more people in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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