- LeBron James partnered with Polymarket following the expiration of his DraftKings marketing deal.
- James headlined a star-studded cast of athletes and celebrities in a Polymarket US advertisement from Labor Day Weekend.
- Polymarket has ongoing legal battles with close to 20 states regarding the regulation of their sports event contracts that resemble sports betting.
PHILADELPHIA – Polymarket broke the bank with their latest advertisement announcing their partnership with LeBron James. The new Philadelphia 76er formerly promoted DraftKings, but now moves to the prediction market world as a partner of Polymarket.
Step inside Polymarket HQ.
Somebody get the ice bath ready for @EliManning after that tackle. 🧊🤣🏈
In partnership with Polymarket pic.twitter.com/xfv1nr6OOb— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 8, 2026
The post had close to five million views in roughly five hours. While LeBron James was the focal point of the advertisement, many other athletes and celebrities took part in the commercial.
Richard Sherman, Eli Manning, Rajon Rondo, Reggie Bush, Derek Jeter, Bob Stoops, Spike Lee, Sue Bird, John Leguizamo, Craig Robinson, Alexandra Daddario, StableRonaldo, and Emily Ratajkowski all deliver cameos throughout the ad. The athletes shown in the Polymarket advertisement won 25 championships combined, including Bob Stoops’ 2023 XFL Championship and Reggie Bush’s 2004 vacated National Championship with the USC Trojans.
Polymarket In Battle With Stats Over Sports Event Contracts
While athletes, celebrities, sports teams, and even sports leagues engage in partnership with Polymarket and other prediction markets, these companies are battling states in court. So much disagreement over the regulation of “sports event contracts” – prediction operators say they’re federally regulated, states say they can regulate predictions based on state gaming law – that the battle is rapidly approaching a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thes SCOTUS case in particular focuses on Kalshi, but the outcome of the decision would directly apply to Polymarket and other federally-regulated exchanges under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. States argue that prediction markets like Polymarket should be regulated the same as legal sports betting, but at the time of the LeBron-Polymarket partnership announcement, that is far from reality.
