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Knicks fans have been taking to the New York City streets to celebrate the team’s success during this year’s NBA Finals run. At the same time, Kalshi and Polymarket are trying to capitalize on the momentum, turning the internet culture they cultivate into real-world, viral marketing moments.
The prediction-market rivals, both valued in the multibillions, have used shitposting tactics to generate attention online, from posting AI-generated images of sports stars with salacious headlines to paying influencers known for spreading fake news to promote their platforms.
As crowds gathered outside Madison Square Garden, two viral fan moments drew scrutiny after it emerged both had prediction-market ties.
Kalshi has taken heat over a clip after Game 1, when 23-year-old Knicks fan MD Ahnaf Hossain spoke into a Kalshi-branded microphone, saying, “My mayor Muslim, my bagels Jewish. My Christian Dior — Knicks in four!” The clip, amplified by a Kalshi-affiliated social media account, has drawn tens of millions of views and coverage in outlets including The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Kalshi later posted a follow-up interview with Hossain, who said he was drawn to the “iconic green mic.” The moment has drawn sharp scrutiny, including some who claim Hossain should admit he wasn’t the first to utter the phrase.
“Organic” Marketing Stunt
Kalshi says the original moment was a stroke of good luck. The company has been sending videographers—and a robot donned in a Kalshi-sponsored Knicks jersey called BingBot—to capture the celebration scene.
Kalshi connected with Hossain after he commented on one of the posts of his clip that went viral and they coordinated to film the second video. As part of the second stunt, Kalshi gifted Hossain an actual Dior scarf.
“It was smart marketing on our part, but it was also organic,” Kalshi spokesperson Dani Lever tells Front Office Sports. “We didn’t go find him and say, ‘Hey, come talk into this mic.’ He found us and then we connected to make the second video.”
Lever says Kalshi isn’t fazed by online critics; the company is enjoying the Knicks’ success the same way fans are. “Everybody has this energy in New York right now,” she says. “We’re really proud to be a New York company.”
Polymarket Makes a Deal
Separately, 22-year-old Knicks fan Jake Epstein set out to see if he could say “Jalen Brunson” 100,000 times while livestreaming outside of MSG on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s Game 3.
“I remember going to games when we had 17 wins, but the Garden would still shake when we were up by 20,” he tells FOS. “Now that we’re in the Finals, I just wanted to do something fun and peaceful.”
Epstein wore a tuxedo and livestreamed his stunt, which turned out to be more challenging than he expected thanks to rain, 85-degree heat, and the need to keep charging his laptop. “I didn’t even know if I could do it,” he says. “There were so many times I wanted to quit.”
Eventually the internet found Polymarket had gotten involved. “Annnnnnd prediction markets ruined it,” a senior social media editor for the outlet Semafor posted.
Epstein says Polymarket was not involved in the planning of his stunt. “They came up to me around the 94,000 mark and said they loved what I was doing, that they’re a company born in New York City, and their founder is from here,” he tells FOS. “They asked if I had any other ideas and how they could be helpful.”
He says he and Polymarket were planning another stunt for Wednesday for Game 4. The idea was a Jalen Brunson “lookalike contest,” Epstein says, where one fan would win a ticket to an upcoming Finals game. However, a few hours after the initial interview, Epstein told FOS that the exhaustion of his original stunt—it took him almost 12 hours to say Jalen Brunson 100,000 times—had gotten to him; he wasn’t feeling well and had to call off Wednesday’s contest.
“It took a harder toll on my body than I expected,” he says.
Polymarket declined to comment. A person familiar with the matter says the company did begin a sponsored deal with Epstein “after noticing his high engagement on streaming platforms.” Epstein still hopes to figure out something he can do with the company as the series continues. While he won’t be putting up thousands of dollars to attend a game at MSG, he might just show up in San Antonio, where he says he has “a lot of family.”
Epstein says the “only consolation” of the Knicks losing the game after his stunt is that New York now has a chance to close out the series in San Antonio.
“In 1999, the Spurs won on our court, so I think it would be poetic justice, especially for Patrick Ewing, who was injured and didn’t get to play in that series, if the Knicks won this series on their court,” he tells FOS.
