The Philadelphia 76ers became the first NBA team to name an official prediction market partner, signing a multiyear agreement with Kalshi on Friday.
- The deal follows the NBA's agreements with Kalshi and Polymarket and an expanded partnership with DraftKings.
- LeBron James' reported $15-million annual Polymarket endorsement deal highlights athletes' growing commercial ties to prediction markets.
- Prediction markets generated more than $14 billion in reported weekend trading volume, even as legal challenges and concerns over sports integrity continue.
The agreement follows Kalshi's recently announced league-wide partnership with the NBA and will include in-arena advertising, digital content, and fan engagement initiatives. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Kalshi will become the team's official prediction market partner, receiving promotional placements through the 76ers' mobile app, ticketing platform, and other team-operated digital channels.
“With Kalshi’s new league-wide relationship with the NBA, we saw an opportunity to build a first-of-its-kind team partnership focused on delivering new content, creativity and engagement for 76ers fans,” said Owen Morin, the team's chief revenue officer of partnerships, in a statement.
NBA expands prediction market relationships
The partnership comes four days after the NBA announced agreements with Kalshi, Polymarket, and DraftKings. Kalshi and Polymarket became preferred prediction market exchanges, while DraftKings expanded its existing NBA partnership to include its prediction market business.
Individual NBA stars have already entered the industry. LeBron James signed a reported $15-million annual endorsement agreement with Polymarket in September, while Giannis Antetokounmpo became a Kalshi shareholder earlier this year. Other NBA players, including Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, have established relationships with prediction market operators.
The league also reached an agreement with the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission that focuses on cooperation and information sharing around NBA-related prediction markets. Agreements include restrictions on certain markets and prohibit league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts.
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Prediction market partnerships continue expanding
Exchanges' growing marketing efforts have drawn increased legal action and public scrutiny around integrity for sports event contracts, which critics have decried as a form of sports gambling.
Those concerns have not stopped professional sports teams and leagues from pursuing prediction market partnerships.
Kalshi signed partnerships with multiple high-profile MLB franchises this summer, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. The New York Mets and Yankees kick-started the team-prediction market partnership boom by reaching agreements with Novig and Polymarket, respectively.
The NHL has partnerships with both Kalshi and Polymarket, while the Chicago Blackhawks became one of the first professional teams to reach an individual agreement. The league has been one of North America’s most proactive with prediction market deals.
The NFL, the world’s highest-grossing professional sports organization, has yet to announce comparable team partnerships. The league wrote to the Supreme Court supporting state regulators in their legal efforts against prediction markets, raising concerns that the current federal oversight lacks comparable protections offered by state-level gambling officials.
The commercial expansion coincides with unprecedented trading activity. Prediction markets generated more than $14 billion in notional trading volume over the Oct. 24-25 weekend, including more than $10 billion on Kalshi, according to Aldrin Research.
The commercial expansion continues as states challenge whether federally regulated exchanges can offer sports event contracts without state gambling licenses. Those disputes could ultimately shape how extensively prediction markets expand their relationships with professional sports organizations. A Supreme Court ruling could come as early as 2027.
Sports account for roughly 80% of prediction market trading volume and are the focal point of most state-level legal challenges. Despite sports' current dominance, industry executives see financial, economic, and other non-sports contracts accounting for a larger share of future trading.
Deals such as Kalshi’s with the 76ers underscore the importance of sports for prediction markets, at least in the short term.
