LeBron James will reportedly make more than three times as much money through an endorsement with prediction market operator Polymarket as he will with his new NBA team this upcoming season.
Key Takeaways
- Polymarket will reportedly pay James $15 million.
- The marketing partnership was revealed earlier this month.
- James joins Giannis as major NBA stars promoting trading exchanges.
Polymarket will pay the legendary pro basketball player $15 million in a multi-year agreement, according to a Front Office Sports report on Wednesday. James will make $4 million this season with the Philadelphia 76ers, who signed the free agent and former Los Angeles Laker over the summer.
Polymarket first teased its new marketing deal with one of the most popular athletes in the world earlier this month. LeBron is expected to be a part of social media and other content, but exact terms of the deal haven’t been released.
Welcome to Polymarket HQ.pic.twitter.com/P0c43ImVIP
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) September 8, 2026
James is reportedly not a Polymarket investor, and the LeBron ad campaign will focus on football, not basketball. James previously had a similar marketing agreement with DraftKings.
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Endorsement allowed
The NBA doesn’t ban players from endorsing prediction markets, but they can’t promote or trade on the league’s event contracts. They are also prohibited from endorsing NBA betting at sportsbooks.
James isn’t the first major pro athlete to partner with a prediction market operator, which has become a growing trend in the industry. Miami Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo made waves in February when he became a partial owner of popular prediction market operator Kalshi, a rival of Polymarket and the top trading exchange in the world.
Giannis invested less than 1% in the prediction market company, but he has been featured in a long-running ad campaign to promote Kalshi.
“We have a rule that was collectively bargained with the Players Association that players can make, I will call them, de minimis investments in sports betting companies, and we're applying the same rule to prediction markets,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this year.
Other pro athletes who have made prediction market investments include Kyle Kuzma, Breanna Stewart (Kalshi), and Saquon Barkley (Polymarket).
Big business
Polymarket was founded in 2020 and offered trading until it ran into regulation issues with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and left the U.S. market. The exchange returned in December 2025 and now offers sports event contracts, including on the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL.
More than $377 million was traded on the platform during Sunday’s NFL slate, with $241.5 million coming from sports contracts and another $134.6 million on combos, according to Aldrin Research.
James is Polymarket’s biggest individual star yet, but it’s the exclusive prediction partner of MLB. The operator also has marketing deals with the NHL, UFC, La Liga, and MLS.
In other prediction market news, there has been an influx of MLB teams signing marketing deals with prediction market companies.
Polymarket agreed to a deal with the New York Yankees, a team with the league’s highest valuation. Novig was the first prediction market operator to breach this ground with the New York Mets, while Kalshi has partnered with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants.
