A Wrigleyville sports bar is running a promotion on Sunday with prediction marketplace Kalshi that will reward patrons with $100 gift cards and tequila shot specials if Mexico defeats England in the highly-anticipated World Cup match.
And to help offset most of the giveaways and discounts, Rizzo’s Bar & Inn placed a $2,000 trade on Kalshi for Mexico to win — giving them a potential payout of $3,721.
The Kalshi tie-in is the first of its kind in Chicago, the New York-based prediction platform said.
“You have to strike while the iron is hot,” Rizzo’s cofounder Eddie Mahoney said. “This only happens once every four years. We’re just trying to get in front of everybody.”
The wager is essentially a hedge for the business. If Mexico advances, Rizzo’s winnings will help cover the $100 gift cards, redeemable on next visits, as well as the drink specials. If they lose, Rizzo’s is out $2,000 but will still gain revenue thanks to additional foot traffic and patrons who will cover their own tabs.
And the strategy is becoming a hospitality trend across the country to attract customers, amid rising business costs and consumers drinking less alcohol.
Dylan Goldstein, cofounder of Chicago-based events company Bizzy Nights, recommended the partnership with Kalshi, which has garnered nationwide attention the last year.
“Immersiveness is going to be really big, and that’s what people are looking for right now,” said Goldstein, who organizes holiday pub crawls and other related events.
Rizzo’s customers on Sunday will be greeted with a complimentary green tea shot and mini Mexico flags. The bar, at 3658 N. Clark St. across from Wrigley Field, is also raffling off a Mexico team jersey and broadcasting the game in Spanish. DJs spinning Latin beats and music will also be part of the mix, during match breaks and post-game.
As part of the Kalshi promotion, tequila shots will be $3 if Mexico wins by a goal; $2 if they win by two goals and $1 if they win by 3 or more goals.
“We’re just trying to generate that business when we don’t have a private event, when we don’t have the Cubs or a concert,” Mahoney said.
A new hedge play
During the NBA Finals last month, New York City bar The Jeffrey won about $15,000 after placing $5,000 on the Knicks to beat the Spurs. Customers received $100 off their tab, as the campaign drew national coverage.
Shortly thereafter, the owners of TallBoy, a neighborhood bar in Washington, D.C., picked up the tab for about $4,000 in drinks and food, after the U.S. defeated Paraguay last month in its first World Cup match up. The promotion was part of a $1,350 “ladder bet” the bar made on Kalshi across various positions tied to margin of victory, Politico reported.
“These small businesses, as a result of doing this, are getting way more business,” Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick said. “It’s a win-win for both the bar and Kalshi’s publicity.”
The prediction marketplace, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is legal in the U.S. and allows customers to wager on real world events, from Supreme Court decisions and entertainment awards to commodity and security exchanges.
Although it resembles traditional sports gambling, participants are trading so-called “event contracts,” including those on sports, using terminology and methodology approved by the Trump administration.
Buoyed by social media and high-profile wagers worldwide, Kalshi’s service has exploded in the last few years, with annualized volume projected to hit $300 billion this year, an astronomical 1,054% jump from $26 billion in 2025, according to figures disclosed to the Sun-Times.
In 2024, Kalshi’s platform generated $2 billion in annualized volume.
But legal battles and controversy have also followed the startup.
In late June, the company filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago aiming to block a new state tax on financial exchanges widely criticized as illegal sports betting mechanisms by Illinois gambling regulators.
Kalshi is the top ranked prediction marketplace on the App Store with more than 10 million downloads.