Major League Soccer (MLS) has named Polymarket as its exclusive prediction market partner, marking a significant step in how professional sports leagues explore alternative fan engagement tools. The agreement makes Polymarket an official partner of MLS, covering the regular season, the MLS All-Star Game, and the league’s postseason tournament.
As soccer continues to expand its footprint in the United States, MLS is actively seeking new ways to connect with a younger, digitally native audience. Prediction markets, which allow users to speculate on outcomes using market-based probabilities, offer a data-driven layer of interaction beyond traditional viewing.
A New Fan Engagement Channel
Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan said the partnership reflects changing fan behavior. According to Coplan, fans increasingly want to interact with matches in real time rather than passively consume content.
Through the collaboration with MLS and Leagues Cup, Polymarket will surface real-time market sentiment around matches, in-game moments, and season-long narratives. This approach allows fans to track how collective expectations shift as events unfold, adding a new analytical dimension to the viewing experience.
Rather than positioning prediction markets as a replacement for betting, the partnership frames them as an engagement tool built around forecasting, sentiment, and discussion.
Integrity Safeguards Built Into the Deal
To protect competitive integrity, the MLS–Polymarket agreement includes multiple safeguards. These include third-party monitoring of trading activity and close cooperation between the league and Polymarket when approving market offerings.
By introducing oversight mechanisms, MLS aims to prevent potential manipulation and ensure that prediction activity does not compromise match outcomes. This emphasis on integrity mirrors similar safeguards used in partnerships between leagues and licensed sports betting operators.
Following the NHL’s Lead
The MLS deal comes just months after the National Hockey League signed partnership agreements with both Polymarket and Kalshi, Polymarket’s main competitor. Those agreements allow prediction market platforms to access proprietary league data, use official branding, and secure premium virtual advertising placements during nationally televised games, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Together, these deals signal growing acceptance of prediction markets among major U.S. sports leagues, even as legal questions remain unresolved.
Legal Pressure Builds on Prediction Markets
Despite league support, prediction markets face mounting legal scrutiny. Several U.S. states have filed lawsuits against Kalshi, arguing that sports-related prediction contracts violate state gambling laws. Kalshi has countered that it operates under federal oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has not ordered it to halt its sports offerings.
Last week, a Massachusetts judge issued an injunction against Kalshi but delayed enforcement while the company seeks a stay. Following that ruling, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio referenced the decision in arguments targeting both Kalshi and Polymarket.
Credibility as the Key Prize
Beyond advertising exposure, league partnerships provide prediction market operators with something more valuable: legitimacy. Aligning with MLS and the NHL places Polymarket and Kalshi closer to licensed sportsbooks, which already maintain similar relationships with professional leagues.
MLS Deputy Commissioner and Soccer United Marketing President Gary Stevenson said the partnership positions MLS as an early adopter of new engagement formats. As legal battles continue, the future of prediction markets remains uncertain. However, with major leagues and sportsbook giants exploring similar products, prediction markets appear poised to remain part of the U.S. sports ecosystem for years to come.
