A close-up view of a New York Knicks flag outside a bar in Midtown Manhattan (Erica Denhoff/Getty Images)

hedge of glory

A New York bar is using Kalshi to offer patrons free drinks during the first Knicks Finals game

Sentences are being written that have never been written before.

6/3/26 9:18AM

Though the cheapest resale tickets to go and see the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden in their first NBA Finals since 1999 are now floating around the ~$4,000 mark (as of writing, there is actually only one seat showing under $5,000), one NYC bar is offering to sweeten the deal for fans who choose to watch the first playoff game in their venue… but only if the Knicks win.

Patrons at The Jeffrey bar in Manhattan who show up before the game starts will have their checks covered if the Knicks win, up to the value of $100 per guest, per the bar’s post on social media. But how, in the middle of a pronounced slump for the American beer industry, can it afford such a promotion? A wealthy Knicks-loving benefactor? A (maybe misplaced) sense of optimism about the coming World Cup’s impact on business? No, it’s down to prediction markets, of course!

Play the percentage

Andrew Freedman — the owner of the bar, the man behind the offer, and, in the daytime, a hedge fund adviser — told Semafor that he used Kalshi to put $5,000 on the Knicks to win on Wednesday, which would pay out ~$8,000 if it comes in and cover around half of the expected outlay from picking up his patrons’ tabs.

Perhaps the most interesting part about the setup at The Jeffrey is that it was Kalshi’s idea, a fact Freedman revealed to Semafor and that a company spokesperson has since confirmed. The prediction market platform reached out to Freedman after a similarly generous offer around an Eastern Conference game set him back $3,700, suggesting that he hedge his promotion this time around.

So, just to recap: Knicks fans drinking at The Jeffrey might get a game day bonus; Freedman likely gets more customers through the door and gets to potentially offset the costs of doing so; and Kalshi, which already saw a whopping $11.5 billion of sports market volumes in April, cements itself as a hub to monetarily express your views on The Big Game.

Prediction markets category volumes chart — Sherwood News

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