It took only days for the SF Giants' Kalshi deal to blow up right in their face

The SF Giants made some news in the past week by announcing that they were partnering with Kalshi, a “prediction market” that allows people to bet on basically anything. One of the reasons it has blown up is because it has allowed people in states that have stricter laws about sports betting to bet on sports, or "predict" them, without regulations.

Well, so much for that as a federal appeals court ruled that states are allowed to regulate “prediction markets” like Kalshi as if they are gambling entities. That means they can be treated the same as the likes of Draft Kings or FanDuel which is obviously a big blow to these prediction market companies which have been able to skirt around regulations.

Surely this will be litigated in the courts for quite a while and it really wouldn’t shock anyone if those on the side of greed and profits end up on top, but the Giants have to feel a little bit silly that their announcement was made just before this ruling.

Every MLB team is going to try to maximize its profits. They are all businesses at the end of the day which is why Oracle Park’s foul poles have Chick-Fil-A advertising on them and why the park has had about 10 different names since it opened back in 2000.

MLB's embrace of sports betting is a little concerning

Still, the fact that MLB and the sports world at large have embraced the sports gambling or “prediction market” boom is a bit disconcerting. Gambling and baseball were once seen as oil and water. The two were to never mix. It’s the reason we all know about the Chicago Black Sox and why Pete Rose was ostracized for so long.

The huge scandal in recent years involving Emmanuel Clase and other MLB pitchers intentionally throwing balls in order to make thousands of dollars is an example of what can happen when this whole proliferation of betting or “predicting” gains such popularity.

Don’t expect the Giants to change anytime soon, though. They have weird little advertisements on the players' jersey sleeves and as time goes on we will probably only see more and more advertising slapped on them, whether it’s their helmets or caps or other part of the jerseys.

It’s a little lame but we know that the Giants' upper brass is going to try to make a quick buck however it can. Don’t expect the money to be invested back into the product on the field though, and don’t expect them to be especially scrupulous about who they are getting the money from even if it ends up blowing up in their face like it looks like it might with Kalshi. They may not be as bad as the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it’s still not a great look.

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