On Monday, Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-flight professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, entered a multi-year partnership with leading prediction markets platform Polymarket. The league’s commercial arm has named Polymarket as the official partner of the MLS and Leagues Cup.
The deal is the latest in a growing list of sports divisions and teams partnering with prediction markets despite recent controversies and concerns about combining gambling and sports. Last October, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced deals with Polymarket and Kalshi, becoming the first major American sports league to partner with such platforms.
Today Soccer United Marketing and @Polymarket announced multi-year partnerships with @MLS and @LeaguesCup that will offer new ways for fans to engage with matches and follow season-long storylines by integrating prediction markets into the fan experience. https://t.co/EYzJx98hcx pic.twitter.com/kMBU9rup1w
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) January 26, 2026
Polymarket Named Official Prediction Market Partner Of Major League Soccer
In the announcement, MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson said that partnering with Polymarket allows the league to integrate prediction markets as a “new fan engagement format” and position it as an early leader among “global soccer properties.” The deal also covers the Leagues Cup – a cup competition that MLS runs with Mexico’s Liga MX, the MLS All-Star Game, and the MLS Cup.
MLS and Polymarket will focus on live match viewing and second-screen engagement. Rather than traditional sports betting, the league will emphasise markets that reflect real-time collective fan sentiment around matches, tournaments, and season-long storylines.
Polymarket is the world’s largest decentralized prediction market platform, where users can speculate on real-world events using cryptocurrencies. The platform, which operates on the Polygon blockchain and uses Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin for transactions, allows users to buy and sell shares representing the likelihood of specific outcomes in elections, sports, or the economy.
The deal also includes safeguards designed to protect the integrity of MLS and Leagues Cup games, such as independent monitoring of trading activities and collaboration on game markets offered by Polymarket.
Meanwhile, MLS Senior Vice President of Emerging Ventures, Chris Schlosser, told the media that the deal is primarily about “preserving the integrity” of games.
“All of the major prediction markets have markets on MLS – they all offer trading on the league, and so we felt we really needed to lean in on the integrity side and create a framework for protection.”
Schlosser also noted that Polymarket will create an “authorized prediction market” (APM) status for MLS, similar to the “authorized gaming operator” status that various sports betting platforms have with the MLS and other major sports leagues. He added that the end goal is to form exclusive partnerships with any prediction market that has a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) license.
Major League Soccer To Control Related Markets On Polymarket With Independent Monitoring
The APM designation will give MLS greater control over the types of prediction products tied to its league and cup competitions. The league has signalled preference for aggregate or season-long markets, steering away from single-game, player-specific outcomes that could raise integrity concerns.
Schlosser said doing so will “codify a whole lot of integrity principles” for the league, such as approval over Polymarket’s related public offers, and imposing restrictions on individuals, league staff, club staff, players, referees, and owners to make sure they are not “trading on the sport of soccer.”
When asked if players are banned from using the prediction market, Schlosser said not until the league updates its rules and guidelines, as they need to ensure that platforms will work together to prohibit such trading. FIFA, the global soccer governing body, has a code of ethics that bans professional players, officials, and agents from either “directly or indirectly” betting, gambling, lotteries, or similar transactions related to football matches or competitions.
The MLS executive said third-party entities like IC360 and Sportrader will be assigned to monitor all trading volume on league markets and report any “strange occurrences,” with those firms also involved in any investigations.
said Gary Stevenson, MLS Deputy Commissioner and President of Soccer United Marketing, in a statement.
“As MLS continues to grow, innovation remains central to how we engage fans and evolve the league. Partnering with Polymarket allows us to integrate prediction markets as a new fan engagement format and position MLS as an early leader among global properties,”
MLS-Polymarket Deal Comes as Public Outcry Over Prediction Markets Grow
The MLS-Polymarket deal comes as sports leagues across North America grapple with the rapid expansion of betting-related products. Prediction markets, which operate under federal oversight, have drawn scrutiny over whether integrity safeguards will keep pace with their growing popularity.
In the past, MLS has had to deal with its own gambling scandals, with the league terminating the contract of Sporting Kansas City FC midfielder Felipe Hernandez as a result of violating its gambling policy.
He was initially suspended for three months in October 2021 for betting on MLS games and other sports, and subsequently reinstated in January 2022 under strict conditions, including abstinence from gambling. In June 2024, Hernandez was placed on administrative leave following a report of another violation, breaching the terms of his reinstatement, resulting in MLS terminating his contract.
