Add The New York Post on Google The Athletic has reportedly abandoned plans for a sports betting or prediction-market partnership with Kalshi in the wake of unionized staffers’ pushback.
The New York Times-owned sports outlet remains in talks with Kalshi about possible advertising and “other commercial opportunities,” Front Office Sports reported this week, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Unionized Times workers had publicly urged management to reject any agreement extending beyond conventional advertising, warning that integrating Kalshi’s products into The Athletic’s journalism could cause readers to question its editorial independence.
A source familiar with the matter told Front Office Sports that the union’s objections played no role in The Athletic’s decision to drop the sports betting or prediction-market tie-up.
“Any partnership between Kalshi and The Athletic would threaten our journalistic independence across the company,” the workers said in a letter obtained by the outlet.
The union letter noted the Times has reported on New York officials characterizing Kalshi as an “illegal operation.”
“Despite management’s claim that The Athletic and The New York Times are separate business entities, the journalism and the work are intertwined, as any reader can see,” the letter stated.
The letter was unanimously approved by the Times Guild Unit Council and The Athletic’s contract action team and sent to Times owner and publisher AG Sulzberger, Athletic publisher David Perpich and senior editors at The Athletic and its parent company, according to FOS.
“The letter did not prompt or play any role in it,” a source told FOS, adding that several Athletic staffers had been informed of the decision “a few days ago.”
The source said discussions between The Athletic and Kalshi had “evolved over time.”
FOS reported last month that The Athletic and Kalshi were in advanced talks over a potential sponsorship agreement.
Kalshi has been aggressively expanding its footprint in sports and media.
The prediction-market platform has sponsorships across sports, including with the US Open, and integrations with CNN and CNBC that incorporate Kalshi data into broadcasts, according to FOS.
Contacted by The Post, Kalshi did not comment on the potential partnership with The Athletic but said: “Kalshi forecasts are generated by millions of people trading — no elite, pundit, or top-down editorial process stands in front of the crowd’s collective wisdom.”
Recent weeks have seen the company’s sports event contracts face legal challenges.
New Jersey’s attorney general on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to weigh in for the first time on regulation of prediction markets like Kalshi and its rival Polymarket — potentially paving the way for the Garden State to shut them down.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Nevada can enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi.
The New York Times Company bought The Athletic for $550 million in 2022.
Roughly 200 Athletic editorial employees announced plans to unionize in January 2025 and sought to join the Times Guild. Athletic management said it favored a separate bargaining unit.
The union invoked Sulzberger’s own description of journalistic independence as it pressed management to abandon the prospective Kalshi deal.
“We call on the company to live up to that commitment and abandon this deal,” the letter said.
The Post has sought comment from the Times and the union.
