LaLiga has become the first European soccer league to enter a partnership with Polymarket, signing a multi-year agreement that grants the prediction market platform exclusive rights across the United States and Canada. The deal includes broadcast visibility during LaLiga matches, digital programming opportunities, and exclusive fan experiences. Polymarket is also permitted to use LaLiga intellectual property for match-related prediction markets. Official event contracts for clubs such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are now listed exclusively on the platform.
Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan described the partnership as a way to convert passive viewership into active participation. He said the goal is to give fans a more expressive way to follow the game, where opinions on players, matches, and season outcomes can be reflected in real time. The arrangement is intended to deepen fan engagement beyond conventional broadcast experiences.
Boris Gartner, CEO and partner of LaLiga’s joint venture partner Relevent, said the deal allows the league to move beyond traditional engagement efforts and connect with new audiences. He noted that soccer’s growth in North America is driven by young, diverse, and multicultural audiences who consume the sport across multiple screens. Reaching those demographics in new and unique ways remains a central objective for the league.
The LaLiga agreement is the latest in a series of sports partnerships Polymarket has pursued, following deals with organizations including the NHL, MLB, UFC, and MLS. That push is led by Ari Borod, the former Fanatics chief business officer who joined Polymarket as president of sports business development in February. Borod described LaLiga as one of the most iconic sports leagues on the planet and pointed to the significant investment currently flowing into soccer in the United States.
The sports expansion is being supported by a growing financial base at Polymarket. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the NYSE, recently made a $1.6 billion investment in the platform. Polymarket is competing directly with rival Kalshi, which doubled its valuation to $22 billion after raising $1 billion last month.
Polymarket recently received approval from the CFTC to re-enter US markets, though the broader prediction market sector continues to face regulatory scrutiny. Concerns have centered on allegations of insider trading, with notable incidents including a MrBeast video editor who was fined and suspended for profiting from inside knowledge of the YouTube personality’s content. Separately, two Israelis were arrested and charged in February with allegedly using classified military information to generate profits on Polymarket.
Both Polymarket and Kalshi have introduced new policies and procedures in response to those insider trading concerns. Meanwhile, CFTC chairman Michael Selig argued this week that pushing prediction markets into offshore, unregulated environments could risk the kind of collapse seen with the FTX exchange. The regulatory environment surrounding prediction markets remains unsettled as the sector continues to grow.
Originally reported by Decrypt.
