Polymarket is ramping up parlay offerings in the U.S. ahead of a pivotal football season with high stakes for sports wagering operators.
The exchange processed its first parlay trade on Aug. 5 and generated more than $7.4 million in trading volume during its initial testing period, according to exchange data from TickerTracker. Most of that activity came after Aug. 13.
The rollout expands a sports business that already accounts for nearly all trading on Polymarket U.S. Sports accounts for more than 99% of the exchange’s $15.5 billion in trading volume already in 2026.
The product remains in beta testing and is not yet broadly available through the Polymarket U.S. app or a desktop interface. Polymarket’s international platform introduced parlays earlier this summer during the World Cup.
Polymarket parlays allow up to 10 legs
Polymarket’s parlay contracts let traders bundle at least two underlying sports contracts into a single $1 position, according to its CFTC filing. The beta currently allows between two and 10 legs, each of which must settle in the trader’s favor for the combined contract to pay out.
Unlike a traditional sportsbook, Polymarket operates an exchange where another market participant takes the opposite side of a trade rather than the operator acting as the house. Polymarket uses a request-for-quote system for its combination contracts, allowing market makers to supply prices for the multi-leg positions.
Polymarket US filed the product with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in May under the formal name Combinatorial Athletic Outcome Contracts, or CAOCs. The exchange self-certified the contracts with the CFTC on May 20.
Parlays have become one of the biggest drivers of sportsbook profitability and activity. They produce hold rates roughly four times higher than straight bets, while more than 70% of NFL and NBA bets placed with FanDuel in 2025 were parlays.
Kalshi parlays surge ahead of NFL
Polymarket’s launch follows a rapid increase in parlay trading at rival Kalshi.
Parlays, which Kalshi reports separately from sports under its Exotics category, overtook traditional sports contracts to lead weekly trading volume for the first time during the week of Aug. 2 and have remained the exchange’s leading category each week since. More than $9 billion was traded on parlays through the first 18 days of August, accounting for 42% of total Kalshi trading volume over that period.
The growth has come before the start of the college football and NFL regular seasons, when sports betting activity typically accelerates to an annual high. This year carries added significance: DraftKings plans to invest up to $300 million in prediction markets, while Flutter previously targeted as much as $300 million for FanDuel Predicts and is now ramping up sportsbook promotions.
Prediction market scrutiny mounts
The expansion into parlays comes as Polymarket and other federally regulated prediction markets face challenges from states that contend sports event contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting.
Polymarket US operates through QCX, a CFTC-designated contract market acquired by Polymarket as part of its return to the regulated U.S. market. The distinction between sportsbooks and prediction exchanges has become increasingly complicated as the platforms add products common to traditional sports betting.
That dispute has developed into a broader fight over whether states can apply their gambling laws to federally regulated prediction exchanges. States including Kentucky, Wisconsin and New York have taken legal action against prediction markets, while the CFTC has sued states seeking to restrict the exchanges and maintains that federal law gives it exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts.
