Last Friday, Taylor Swift was near the front of the pack in our pro-football championship halftime market. But as previously mentioned, there was no real incentive for either party to make it work. Swift, who is releasing a new album on Friday, has no need for the exposure the game will provide, and the league has no need to pay big money for Swift, since a comparable artist will likely perform for free.

Sure enough, last night, this theory proved true, as the league announced that Swift will not be this year’s halftime headliner. Instead, they went with a rather provocative pick of Bad Bunny, who traders were previously pricing at just 15%.

I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before President Trump rage posts about the choice. But he might want to do it fast, since a looming government shutdown might cut off the White House wifi.

Here’s a look at these topics and more for the week ahead.

_{This is an opinion and not financial advice. The author uses a pseudonym and cannot trade on Kalshi.}

President Trump is meeting with congressional leaders today ahead of Wednesday’s shutdown deadline. Democrats are pushing for ACA subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid cuts, while Republicans want a clean seven-week funding patch. With both sides trading blame, shutdown odds spiked as high as 70%. Is a deal still possible? Click here to see what Kalshi supertrader Gaeten Dugas had to say about the matter earlier this month (not trading advice!).

See all our shutdown related-markets here.

As mentioned above, Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, will be released on Friday, October 3rd, and I’m sure she’ll make a pretty penny off her fans. But thanks to Kalshi, Taylor’s fans (or haters, for that matter) can flip the script and make some money off her for a change.

We have a slew of TLOASG related markets to choose from. How many weeks will it be #1? What will be the album’s most (or least) streamed song? Hell, you can even trade on the lyrics.

Click here to see them all.

Here at Kalshi, the past few weeks have been all football all the time. But our pro baseball markets also deserve some love, especially now that the playoffs are about to start.

We have markets on all of this week’s wildcard games, and will soon have markets on the divisional playoff games that begin this weekend. Not to mention our markets on the league championships, as well as the overall pro-baseball championship.

You can even trade on individual player awards (Cy Young, MVP, etc.). So pull yourself away from football for at least a few minutes this month and give America’s pastime its due.

Or don’t. I don’t care. Just click on some of these links before they fire me.

Random markets Terry would love to trade if he didn't work here.

If prediction markets weren’t already mainstream, it’s safe to say they’ve officially crossed the threshold.

Last Wednesday, South Park devoted an entire episode to the industry, complete with prominent mentions of Kalshi and a parody of our app.

If you missed it, rest assured the show had nothing but kind words for us and definitely didn’t mock any of our advisors. So really, there’s no need to watch the whole thing, when the clip below (click on the X post) will give you the gist of it.

Follow Terry Oldreal on X: @realOldTerry
Follow Kalshi on X: @Kalshi

^{The opinions and perspectives presented in this article belong solely to the author, who is using a pseudonym and cannot trade on Kalshi. This is not financial advice. Trading on Kalshi involves risk and may not be appropriate for all. Members risk losing their cost to enter any transaction, including fees. You should carefully consider whether trading on Kalshi is appropriate for you in light of your investment experience and financial resources. Any trading decisions you make are solely your responsibility and at your own risk. Information is provided for convenience only on an "AS IS" basis. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Kalshi is subject to U.S. regulatory oversight by the CFTC.}