CBS News is putting betting odds on the midterm ballot, figuratively speaking. The network said on September 30 that it will fold real-time prices from Kalshi into its midterm election coverage.
The timing is awkward. A Reuters/Ipsos poll provided to Fortune found that 60% of US adults oppose using prediction markets to wager on election results.
Only 13% support the idea, and 24% aren’t sure.
What CBS is actually adding
Under the arrangement, Kalshi becomes the official prediction market sponsor of CBS News. Its contract prices will run next to the network’s traditional polling, including the Battleground Tracker.
Kalshi is a prediction market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Traders buy and sell contracts tied to real-world outcomes. A contract trading at 63 cents roughly reflects a 63% implied chance that the event happens.
Those prices currently lean heavily one way. As of October 2026, Kalshi data gives Democrats a 63% chance of controlling the Senate and a 91% chance of taking the House.
Individual races are drawing real money too. The Texas Senate contest has seen $16.43 million in trading volume, with Democratic candidate James Talerico priced at a 62% probability.
In Maine, the Senate race has logged $10.91 million in volume. Challenger Troy Jackson sits at a 59% probability, according to Kalshi data.
The public isn’t buying it
The Reuters/Ipsos survey ran from September 30 to October 5, 2026. It polled 4,506 US adults and carried a margin of error of approximately 2 percentage points.
The opposition crosses party lines. Some 69% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans said they disapprove of election betting.
Voters also pushed back on other categories of event contracts. The poll found 65% oppose betting on military actions, while 63% oppose wagering on government policy decisions.
The poll’s start date matches the day CBS announced the deal. Respondents were weighing in just as one of the country’s oldest broadcast news brands was signing up for exactly what they dislike.
Kalshi’s growing media footprint
CBS isn’t Kalshi’s first newsroom partner. The company struck similar deals with CNN and CNBC in 2025.
Earlier in 2026, it added the Associated Press. Kalshi licenses vote counts and race calls from the AP, the data backbone many outlets use on election night.
The corporate map got tighter this month. Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, on October 6.
That puts CBS News and CNN under the same owner. Both now carry Kalshi data, meaning one media group controls two major networks displaying the same prediction market’s prices.
The research summary accompanying the deal notes the consolidation may boost the visibility and integration of prediction market data across those platforms.
What this means
The bipartisan nature of the opposition matters here. A product that annoys both Democrats and Republicans doesn’t have a natural constituency to defend it if political pressure builds.
Kalshi’s current Senate and House prices are strong signals, and the midterm results will offer a public scorecard for how well market-based odds performed against traditional polls.
With 60% of adults opposed and another 24% undecided, prediction markets have won the airtime but not yet the argument.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.