Kalshi is making a notable change to its NFL prediction markets just as football season gets ready to take over the calendar. The exchange is reportedly keeping maker fees at 0% for independent NFL-only combo contracts, giving liquidity providers another reason to bring their multi-outcome markets to Kalshi. For you as a trader, the change could ultimately mean more available combos, deeper liquidity, and more competitive pricing.
Kalshi Gives NFL Market Makers a Break
Kalshi recently expanded maker fees across parts of its exchange, meaning traders providing liquidity can face transaction costs, while takers accept their prices. NFL-only independent combos are exempt. Market makers can continue posting those contracts without paying a maker fee.
That distinction matters because Kalshi needs market makers willing to provide plenty of NFL combo options. Removing their fees makes it cheaper to offer those markets and potentially encourages more firms to compete for trades. Retail traders still face applicable transaction fees, so Kalshi is giving up one revenue stream while keeping another.
The basic setup now looks like this:
- Independent NFL-only combos carry a 0% maker fee.
- Market makers provide the pricing and liquidity.
- Takers can still face Kalshi's standard transaction costs.
- More participating makers could create deeper NFL combo markets.
Combo Trades Bring a Familiar Sports Format to Kalshi
If you are familiar with traditional sports platforms, combo trades will probably look a lot like parlays at first glance. Both allow you to combine multiple outcomes, with each part generally needing to resolve correctly for the overall position to succeed. That familiar structure helps explain why combos have quickly become an important part of sports prediction markets.
There is an important difference, though. Kalshi combos are event contracts traded through an exchange, not traditional sportsbook parlays offered directly by an operator. Prices come through the prediction market structure and participating market makers, making the mechanics behind the trade different even when the experience of combining several NFL outcomes feels familiar.
Kalshi has already seen how valuable that activity can become. Gaming America reports that market makers have generated roughly $300 million from retail traders through these multi-outcome positions, while Kalshi itself has collected millions in transaction fees. Giving up maker fees could therefore be less about sacrificing revenue and more about protecting a much larger source of NFL trading activity.
The NFL Prediction Market Race is Getting Crowded
Timing is another important piece of the story. Polymarket US reportedly started beta testing its own parlay-style product this month, putting another major prediction market platform directly into the same race. Sports-focused platforms Underdog and Novig are also expected to compete for users during the upcoming NFL season.
Kalshi has the advantage of an established combo product, but competitors give market makers more places to take liquidity. Waiving NFL maker fees gives those firms a financial reason to keep offering contracts on Kalshi. Better liquidity can then make the platform more attractive to the retail traders on the other side of those transactions.
The Trade Handle Prediction Markets Take
The NFL season could become an important test of just how competitive sports prediction markets are becoming. Kalshi's decision suggests the fight is moving beyond simply offering the most markets. Exchanges also need liquidity, competitive pricing, and enough variety to keep traders from jumping between platforms.
We will be watching combos particularly closely because they sit at an interesting intersection between prediction markets and familiar sports products. They may resemble parlays from the traditional sports side, but the exchange-based structure makes them a different product under the hood. With Polymarket US, Underdog, and Novig adding more competition, Kalshi clearly wants to keep NFL combo liquidity where it is.