Technically they are betting exchanges. But they also probably have contracts with some of the big sportsbooks to provide liquidity too making them also kinda a sportsbook. I used to work at a betting exchange and we did have liquidity partners that made sure to increase the liquidity on our exchange.
reply>Kalshi and Polymarket are mainly just sportsbooks.
replyHow? They sell contracts between two users. One side each. Completely different from a sportsbook where users are betting that the lines they set are not correct.
Whether the people betting on the sports are betting directly with each other or not is a very small difference.
reply90% of the betting volume on Kalshi is betting on sports. I know how prediction markets work and how they're different that traditional sportsbooks, but they ultimately allow customers to do the same things.
replyIf you are saying Kalshi isn't a sportsbook because the house isn't on the other side of the bet, you might as well argue that DraftKings isn't a sportsbook because they don't actually track your wagers in a book.