Polymarket launches trust campaign and MLB partnership to re-enter US market
Polymarket has begun a well-funded U.S. marketing campaign to rebuild trust with American users after four years away from the market. The prediction market platform acquired CFTC-licensed exchange QCEX in 2025 and now operates under a CFTC order of designation. The push includes a partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) and media deals aimed at re-establishing brand recognition among American users.
Polymarket's return campaign lands at a moment when prediction markets face a federal-state squeeze. The CFTC is suing Minnesota to block the nation's first felony ban on event contracts, while a bipartisan Senate bill threatens to strip sports contracts from regulated platforms entirely. Polymarket needs American users to justify its QCEX acquisition and compete with Kalshi for regulated market share. The MLB partnership gives it a familiar consumer brand to offset trust damage from its 2022 CFTC settlement.
But the same regulatory turbulence it hopes to surf — evolving CFTC rules, state pushback — could capsize the re-entry if Congress bans sports contracts or more states copy Minnesota's felony approach. Wall Street banks are already barring staff from these markets, narrowing the institutional liquidity pool. Polymarket must win retail trust fast, before federal and state actions foreclose the product categories that make its U.S. presence economically viable.