More MLB teams sign prediction market sponsorships as leagues split on deals
Five more Major League Baseball teams have signed sponsorship deals with prediction market platforms, joining the New York Mets and New York Yankees who earlier partnered with Novig and Polymarket. Polymarket separately has a reported $300 million league-level deal with MLB and partnerships with the NHL and MLS. Kalshi is also pursuing similar team-level arrangements. The deals come as multiple states allege the activity is illegal.
MLB's team-by-team strategy lets the league collect platform marketing dollars without committing its central brand to the political fight. Each franchise negotiates its own risk, so Polymarket's reported $300 million league deal and Kalshi's five-team push coexist without a unified policy. That fragmentation matters because state attorneys general are already suing.
A Massachusetts or California injunction against one club's stadium signage does not automatically reach the league contract, but it does multiply litigation fronts. Novig, which debuted with $125 million in volume, the club-level path avoids the NFL's outright rejection while still reaching fans. The first state court to freeze a specific team's promotion will test whether MLB will absorb the loss or cut ties to protect the broader league.
While the NFL rejects prediction market deals outright, MLB clubs are moving the opposite direction, splitting the major American sports leagues into separate branding strategies for the 2026 season.