Sara Slane, who served as SVP/Public Affairs at the American Gaming Association for five years before launching a sports betting consultancy in 2019, has joined Kalshi as Head of Corporate Development, a role that will include public affairs, government relations and liaison work with the sports leagues. She will report to co-founder & CEO Tarek Mansour.

Kalshi functions similarly to a sportsbook, allowing account holders to predict the winner of a game and purchase futures contracts that back that prediction at prices that fluctuate similarly to odds, using an exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Though online sports betting remains illegal in 28 states that are home to about 40% of US over-21 adults, Kalshi operates in all 50 states.

That approach, and the increased profile that came when Kalshi offered its Super Bowl and March Madness derivatives through high-profile online broker Robinhood, has brought cease-and-desist letters from gambling regulators in at least four states: Nevada New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio. Kalshi has defied those orders.