CBS News has entered into a partnership with prediction market operator Kalshi that will see the broadcaster incorporate market-based election forecasts into its coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections.
The collaboration was unveiled on CBS Mornings, where Anthony Salvanto, executive director of elections and surveys at CBS News, outlined how Kalshi’s market data will be used alongside the network’s polling results, reporting, and political analysis. CBS has identified Kalshi as its prediction market sponsor and plans to feature the exchange’s data when examining congressional control and key races during the election cycle.
The agreement marks another expansion of Kalshi’s presence within major US media organizations as the company continues to position prediction market information as a supplementary tool for understanding voter sentiment and election dynamics.
Kalshi Chief Executive Officer Tarek Mansour said the partnership would provide CBS audiences with access to continuously updated market forecasts generated through trading activity on the platform.
“Markets aggregate beliefs from millions of Americans and force ideas from all sides to compete in the open, driven by a simple and transparent incentive: to be right,” Mansour said according to NEXTPredict.
CBS Combines Polling Analysis With Market Forecasts
During the CBS Mornings segment announcing the partnership, Salvanto demonstrated how the broadcaster intends to use Kalshi’s data alongside its own election research products.
After reviewing CBS polling data and the network’s model for translating voter preferences into potential House seat outcomes, Salvanto emphasized that polling and prediction markets measure different things and should not be viewed interchangeably.
“Polls give Americans a way to express how they feel,” Salvanto said. “They are not predictions of what will happen in November.”
He explained that prediction markets offer an additional perspective by reflecting how traders assess political developments and election prospects through buying and selling contracts tied to future outcomes.
“Think of the way the stock market might reflect how traders feel about companies or industries’ prospects,” Salvanto said. “Well, on these platforms, people buy and sell and trade with others, and that can reflect what they think of a candidate or a party’s prospects.”
CBS used Kalshi data covering congressional control and the Texas Senate contest between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton as examples of how the information could be incorporated into election analysis. Salvanto discussed movements in House-control markets since Labor Day and noted how polling shifts and economic developments may influence trader sentiment.
“Kalshi is our prediction market sponsor, and we’re gonna integrate their market data for these analyses,” Salvanto said, adding that the goal is to give viewers “a wider view of what Americans and the markets are thinking.”
According to figures highlighted around the partnership announcement, Kalshi currently assigns Democrats a 63% chance of controlling the Senate and a 91% chance of holding the House of Representatives. Among individual contests, the Texas Senate race has attracted significant activity on the platform, with more than $16.4 million in trading volume and a 62% probability assigned to Talarico winning the seat.
Another heavily traded market involves Maine Senator Susan Collins. Kalshi data cited around the announcement showed more than $10.9 million in volume in that race, with challenger Troy Jackson holding a 59% probability of victory on the platform.
Growing Network of Media Partnerships
The CBS agreement adds another major news organization to Kalshi’s expanding list of media relationships.
The company secured a partnership with CNN in December 2025, becoming the network’s official prediction market partner and supplying market data for use across programming and newsroom operations. Shortly afterward, CNBC entered into a multiyear exclusive arrangement to incorporate Kalshi information into its television, digital, and subscription products.
Kalshi has also established ties with The Associated Press. In March, the AP agreed to provide the company with election vote counts and race calls covering national and major state contests during the 2026 cycle. The arrangement gives Kalshi direct access to official election reporting that can be combined with market-based forecasts.
Some reports have also cited partnerships with Fox News Media as part of the company’s broader media strategy.
In July, Kalshi launched a dedicated online hub focused on the midterm elections. The platform combines prediction market pricing with polling data, fundraising figures, and historical election information, allowing users to track changes in forecasts as trading activity evolves.
Prediction Markets Gain Visibility Amid Regulatory Debate
The latest media partnership arrives as prediction markets continue to attract attention from regulators, lawmakers, and state authorities.
Kalshi operates as a designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The company’s ability to offer election-related contracts followed a 2024 federal court ruling that cleared the way for such products.
Since then, the sector has experienced heightened scrutiny. The CFTC issued an enforcement advisory in February 2026 following cases involving fraud and misuse of nonpublic information in event-contract markets. More recently, the regulator submitted two rulemaking proposals to the White House seeking to clarify which event contracts qualify as swaps and how casino-style gambling products should be treated under federal rules.
Questions surrounding the boundary between federally regulated event contracts and gambling products have become more prominent as prediction market operators have expanded beyond politics into sports and other categories.