Sportsbooks are in the sports betting business, and offer VIP programs to their biggest sports bettors.
Kalshi is in the prediction market business and is now offering “Platinum” status to “all high value players,” including those who buy sports event contracts.
“Similar to other financial markets, brokerages, and large consumer brands, we’re piloting a program that offers priority support and other benefits to some of our most loyal customers,” confirmed Elisabeth Diana, head of communications at Kalshi.
She pointed to programs at Schwab, Coinbase, and Kraken as other financial firms offering similar perks.
The news of the program was made public via X earlier Tuesday, according to a tweet from CSPTrading.eth, who posted a letter in full (along with a phone number that went directly to voice mail when InGame called) inviting him to join the newly-created Platinum program, which sounds very similar to sportsbook VIP programs.
Highlights of the program, per the letter, include a dedicated account manager, limited edition Kalshi merchandise, curated dinners and tickets to local events, and referral incentives.
Sports at the forefront
Sports traders are being included in the program, at least according to the CSPTrading.eth.
“I spoke with some of the highest volume Kalshi accounts I know and none of them got (the letter) because they don’t trade sports,” CSPTrading.eth wrote to InGame, noting that high-volume Kalshi sports traders he spoke with did receive the offer.
Kalshi is not operating in a vacuum here; DraftKings, which launched its own prediction market a few weeks ago, has also launched a VIP program for traders.
A spokesperson for DraftKings confirmed the above, saying the VIP program for its prediction market falls under the same umbrella as its other VIP programs for sports bettors and casino players.
VIP problems
VIP programs were big news last year, and often for not the reasons the sportsbooks – and casinos, and now prediction markets — would want.
The most extreme example remains Amit Patel, the former Jacksonville Jaguars employee serving a 6.5-year federal sentence for stealing more than $22 million from the team. Patel is still pursuing a $250 million lawsuit against FanDuel, alleging the company exploited his gambling addiction through aggressive VIP hosting and lax compliance controls. FanDuel agreed in 2025 to pay the Jaguars $5 million tied to Patel’s stolen betting funds, while the team’s own civil suit against Patel continues in Florida.
In New Jersey, Sam Antar — heir to the Crazy Eddie consumer electronics fortune — fared worse. After claiming he lost roughly $30 million on BetMGM while receiving thousands of VIP texts, a federal judge dismissed his claims under the Casino Control Act. In April 2025, the Third Circuit affirmed that dismissal.
A separate VIP-host case against DraftKings brought by Lisa D’Alessandro quietly ended in a confidential settlement in mid-2025.
One DraftKings VIP lawsuit filed by psychiatrist Kavita Fischer appears to remain active.
