TLDR Lionel Messi posted a paid Instagram ad for Kalshi tied to its Argentina Football Association sponsorship The post got over 1.4 million likes and reached Messi’s 500M+ followers Kalshi reported a record $5.1 billion in trading volume in the World Cup’s opening week Minnesota has banned prediction markets outright; several other states are pushing back The CFTC is blocking state enforcement against Kalshi in Arizona, Minnesota, New York, Illinois, and Connecticut
Lionel Messi promoted prediction market platform Kalshi in a paid Instagram post, giving the company one of its biggest marketing moments yet during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The post went live on Sunday and featured Messi alongside Argentina teammates Nicolas Otamendi and Rodrigo De Paul. It promoted a Kalshi-branded giveaway and highlighted a market on whether Argentina will win the World Cup again. The implied probability shown was 8.9%.
The campaign followed Kalshi’s June 10 announcement that it had become an official sponsor of the Argentina Football Association for the duration of the 2026 World Cup.
Messi’s Instagram account has more than 500 million followers. The post collected over 1.4 million likes within days of going live.
What the AFA Deal Includes
The sponsorship gives Kalshi co-branded activations, joint social campaigns, and the right to use the AFA’s crest and branding in its marketing.
The deal also has a data component. Genius Sports, the AFA’s official data and streaming partner, will supply official match data to Kalshi for creating and settling sports-event contracts.
Kalshi will also take part in Genius Sports’ integrity information-sharing program. This gives sports leagues more visibility into related market activity.
Argentina begins its World Cup title defense on Tuesday, playing Algeria in Kansas City in Group J.
A Busy Run of Sports Deals
The Messi post is part of a