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The Mets beat the Yankees to the punch through last week’s deal with Novig, but the Bronx Bombers have quickly responded by becoming the first MLB team to reach an agreement with the league’s official prediction-market partner, Polymarket.
Beginning “any game now,” Polymarket will be featured across Yankee Stadium, the prediction-market platform’s president of sports business development, Ari Borod, tells Front Office Sports. In addition to LED displays throughout the stadium, Polymarket will have “rotating home plate signage” that will be visible to both fans in the ballpark and viewers watching games on the YES Network and Amazon Prime, Borod says.
Financial details were not disclosed. For the time being, the deal only runs through the end of this season (Novig’s deal with the Mets is a multiyear agreement). “As we head into the playoffs, hopefully the Yankees will be around well into the fall,” Borod says.
“The Yankees are not just the most iconic team in baseball, but one of the most iconic teams in sports,” he tells FOS. “The Yankees hat is much bigger than sports. I can’t think of a better partner than the winningest team of all time.”
In addition to the home plate and other signage, Polymarket and the Yankees plan to offer “premium” experiences like letting fans take part in batting practice and allowing kids to run the bases. “We’ll ideate and come up with some more incredible stuff,” Borod says.
Polymarket, which was barred from operating in the U.S. for almost four years under the Biden administration, relaunched its platform in the country in December and formally came out of beta mode in May. Borod says Polymarket has experienced increased trading volume on MLB games since coming out of beta mode. “There are games on virtually every day between April and September,” Borod says.
Michael Tusiani, SVP of partnerships for the Yankees, said in the press release “we are excited to begin a relationship with Polymarket,” noting “we look forward to elevating Polymarket’s brand awareness both at Yankee Stadium and across our fan base.” The Yankees declined to comment beyond the press release.
Polymarket made a big splash in March when it reached a multiyear deal to become the exclusive prediction-market partner of MLB. Sources told FOS the agreement was worth up to $300 million over four years, with Polymarket paying MLB.
That deal gave Polymarket exclusive rights to use team logos and marks. As part of Novig’s agreement with the Mets, Novig became an “MLB authorized prediction market” and is now allowed to use official league data under the “integrity framework” established through an agreement between MLB and the CFTC. It’s not clear whether other firms have also been approved to use official league data, and a representative for MLB didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Polymarket has made a big push in the sports world this year, having reached other deals with the likes of soccer leagues MLS, Serie A, and LaLiga. Both Polymarket and Kalshi are official partners of the NHL, and Polymarket has a team-level deal with the Rangers.
The prediction-market industry is controversial because the sports-event contracts offered by platforms are regulated at the federal level while mirroring traditional sports betting, which is regulated on a state-by-state basis. Platforms like Polymarket, Kalshi, and Robinhood have faced a litany of lawsuits. Polymarket has faced criticism over scandals that took place on its international platform involving insider trading.
Those issues were not an impediment to the Yankees deal, Borod says. “Our partnership with MLB, and the commitment to integrity that we’ve discussed pretty broadly—including with our Palantir relationship to build the best integrity monitoring solution—has given people in sports a good amount of comfort.”
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