Polymarket Removes Cornell 7 Market After Blowback

Polymarket and its athlete endorsers came under fire for a market on the company’s international platform that allowed users to bet on whether any of the seven male defendants accused of raping a Cornell student will be charged with a felony sex crime. Following initial publication of this story, the company removed the market. 

The market, which was not available on Polymarket’s U.S. app, was first made available Sept. 30. As of early Monday afternoon, there was $451,633 in volume, with traders placing a roughly 28% chance on the market resolving to “yes” by Jan. 31, 2027, which is when the market was set to close. 

“This is dehumanizing, disgusting, and dangerous,” attorney Cheyenne Hunt wrote in an Instagram post about the market, which has racked up roughly 6,900 likes of 548 comments. “To the celebrity ambassadors for Polymarket, do you really want to be associated with this?”

An Instagram post from I Have The Right To, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on sexual assault, asked “What kind of culture looks at sexual violence and sees an opportunity for profit?” 

“This is rape culture. And it should disturb every single one of us,” says the post. “But Polymarket isn’t the only one that deserves to be called out. Major celebrities have helped promote the platform, lending their names, influence, and credibility to the company.”

Those who have endorsed the company include LeBron James, who Front Office Sports reported last month is being paid $15 million a year to promote Polymarket, as well as Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Sue Bird, Reggie Bush, Richard Sherman, and others who appeared in a recent commercial for the company. Representatives for those athletes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Polymarket spokesperson told Front Office Sports early Monday afternoon: “Markets bring better, unbiased information about important events, in contrast to the disinformation we’re all drowning in, which too often leaves the public misled and disillusioned to the point of apathy. This case, and sexual assault on college campuses more broadly, are deeply important issues, and markets bring objective, data-driven insight into how a matter like this is moving through the legal system, on a topic that deserves far more transparency and honest attention.”

This is not the first time Polymarket has faced criticism over markets it offered. Other examples include a market on whether Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper would be arrested by Feb. 28 of this year, and markets from last season on whether a dildo would be thrown on the court during WNBA games (these were also only available on Polymarket’s international platform, which operates separately from its U.S. platform, a federally regulated exchange overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission).

Polymarket’s main rival, Kalshi, has received similar criticism in the past. Earlier this year, for example, critics said it was offering a “death” market by letting users bet on whether Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be “out” as leader before March 1. Kalshi has subsequently made a public push to show that it bans markets on topics like war, death, assasination, and kidnapping. 

Asked about Polymarket’s Cornell market, Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana told Front Office Sports “we would not consider it.”

The market on Polymarket came after a civil lawsuit was filed Sept. 16 by a Jane Doe plaintiff who claims she was drugged and gang-raped in 2024. Defendants include Cornell, seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity, and the fraternity itself. The case, which has become a major story in U.S. media, features nine causes of action, including sexual assault and negligence. Jane Doe’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the event contract being offered by Polymarket.

Cornell investigated the situation at the time, and says it “issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions.” The school also says “we understand why members of our community are asking” whether its response in 2024 was “adequate.” Local authorities also investigated; the Tompkins County district attorney chose not to bring criminal charges in 2024, but it has now reopened its probe.

On Polymarket’s international platform, under “market context,” it said the reopened investigation “has fueled public outrage and institutional reviews.” It noted that traders currently place a nearly 73% chance of there being no felony sex crime charges brought against any of the seven male defendants, and attributes that to the fact that the district attorney previously declined to prosecute, the high bar for criminal charges, and the limited window before the market resolves on Jan. 31, 2027.

Polymarket’s international site separately has a market letting users bet on whether Cornell president Michael Kotlikoff will be “out” by Oct. 31. Under market context, it notes he “faces intense scrutiny” over how the school handled the 2024 allegations. As of early Monday afternoon, over $10,000 had been traded on that market, and users believe Kotlikoff has only an 8% chance of being ousted. “The board of trustees has met with him individually and appears inclined to retain his leadership to avoid further instability, with no formal removal process or deadline tied to October 31 underway,” Polymarket says under market context. “Trader consensus on low odds of departure by that date reflects these institutional dynamics and the absence of decisive board action.”