The Sixers are the first NBA team to name an official prediction market partner. Kalshi is even picking up the tab for fans riding SEPTA home after Friday night’s game against the Knicks. Some fans would just as soon pay their own fare, judging by the reaction to Friday’s announcement.
“What are we doing,” wrote Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, among the responses collected by Chris Rosvoglou of The Spun. One fan offered a pretty clear answer as to what bothered him about the deal: “Selling a product of competitive integrity and partnering with prediction markets will never not be hilarious.”
Gabriela Carroll of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who broke the news, put that concern to Sixers executive Owen Morin. He pointed to the NBA’s own agreements with Kalshi and Polymarket, announced earlier in the week. Those deals give the league a say in which NBA markets the companies can offer.
“We want to do this in a really safe way, and we believe it’s regulated in a way where the integrity is upheld,” Morin told Carroll.
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The multiyear deal also includes chances to win merchandise and concessions through the Sixers’ app. As Robert Linnehan of Sports Betting Dime noted, there’s already a Philadelphia connection to Kalshi’s rival.
LeBron James has his own deal with Polymarket, worth $15 million a year, according to Front Office Sports. For comparison, the Sixers are paying him $7.9 million for two seasons.
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