Inside Fanatics’s Battle to Block a Polymarket Hire

Polymarket announced the hiring of former Fanatics executive Ari Borod on Thursday. Behind the scenes, Fanatics sued to stop the prediction-market platform from poaching Borod, although the two sides eventually agreed to settle. 

While Borod has now been announced as Polymarket’s president of sports business development, unsealed documents from the suit obtained by Front Office Sports reveal new information about Fanatics’s apparent plans to purchase an exchange and a claim that Fanatics founder Michael Rubin and betting CEO Matt King are personally invested in Kalshi. 

The suit also bears an ironic resemblance to what happened when Fanatics hired executive Michael Hermalyn away from DraftKings, and DraftKings sued, citing a violation of a noncompete clause. 

Fanatics sued Borod on Jan. 12 in Florida state court to prevent him from joining Polymarket. Although the complaint was filed under seal, a filing from Borod that was publicly available reveals previously unreported details about Fanatics’s pursuit of purchasing an exchange clearinghouse, as well as alleged investments from Rubin and King in Kalshi. 

Borod claimed he “transparently” informed Fanatics of his plan to leave in December, and offered to delay his departure to ensure a smooth transition. However, Fanatics—”intent on retribution”—sought to stop him from taking the Polymarket job by asserting he was subject to a one-year noncompete agreement.

“Borod’s agreement, however, simply has no such provision,” Borod’s filing said. “Fanatics nonetheless threatened that, if Borod did not abandon his plans to join Polymarket, ‘the entire weight of Fanatics would be brought against him.’” 

He said Fanatics made good on that threat by bringing the lawsuit.

Despite the heated nature of the claims, the two sides informed the court Feb. 2 that they have reached a settlement. The court agreed to pause proceedings while the two sides “complete the documentation of their settlement.”

The dispute over whether Borod was allowed to join Polymarket may be settled, but his legal filings feature a few notable claims. According to Borod, Rubin and King “invested personally into Kalshi” before launching Fanatics Markets in December, a prediction-market product ostensibly in direct competition with Kalshi. 

A Polymarket spokesperson said in a statement to FOS: “The parties have reached an out-of-court resolution of their dispute and have no further comment.” Fanatics didn’t respond to a request for comment. A representative for Kalshi declined to comment.

In addition, Borod said: “Plaintiffs make sweeping, non-specific, and false allegations that Borod led Fanatics’ efforts to ‘take steps to engage in the acquisition and ownership of an exchange and clearinghouse.’”

“While I knew that other members of Fanatics’ leadership team were engaged in discussions to acquire a DCM exchange [a trading platform like Kalshi or Polymarket], and had participated in high-level calls on the subject, I was genuinely unaware, prior to this lawsuit, that FMX [Fanatics Marketplace] had agreed to terms with a target exchange,” Borod said. “To date, I still do not know the principal financial and commercial terms of the deal, or the name of the target exchange.”