Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James has suggested he is preparing to announce a partnership with prediction market platform Polymarket, six weeks after traders wagered more than $273m on where he would play.
“Welcome to Polymarket HQ. Coming soon,” James wrote on X and Instagram on Saturday. His posts also carried the caption: “In partnership with @Polymarket.”
A 14-second video shows James walking into a stylised Polymarket office before the company logo and the words “COMING SOON” appear on screen.
Polymarket reposted the video on X less than an hour after James published it at 08:30 EST on Saturday. “thanks for swinging by our HQ,” the Polymarket account replied, adding a goat emoji.
The posts appear to represent the first public indication of a formal relationship between James and Polymarket. However, it is not yet clear whether the video is promoting an upcoming advertisement or whether James has agreed to a wider arrangement as an ambassador, investor or sponsored partner.
Polymarket, James and the 76ers did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Block.
The announcement comes after James’ most recent free-agency decision generated significant activity on prediction markets. Legal Sports Report said contracts worth $273m changed hands across prediction market platforms in relation to the decision, a figure greater than the volume recorded for any individual basketball game.
Front Office Sports estimated that around $226m was traded on Kalshi, while more than $43m was exchanged on Polymarket’s international platform.
Despite the scale of the activity, traders largely failed to predict the eventual outcome. Before James’ decision became public, the 76ers were trading at about 9% odds, according to Legal Sports Report, while the Miami Heat were at approximately 45%.
James subsequently signed a two-year contract worth $8m, which includes a player option.
The 39-year-old had already agreed a “multi-year” talent ambassador deal with DraftKings in 2024. Under that arrangement, James would “join DraftKings as a talent ambassador around football and select key tentpole events as part of a multi-year agreement,” according to the announcement.
It is not known whether that relationship remains active, or whether it will overlap with the proposed Polymarket partnership.
The prospect of James working with Polymarket has attracted criticism on social media. Some of the most-liked replies beneath his Instagram and X posts questioned his association with the platform.
“My glorious king why are you promoting evil sports gambling,” one fan wrote in the most-liked comment on Instagram, which had received about 4,500 likes at the time of publication.
“Don’t do this Bron,” said the most-liked reply on X, which had attracted more than 3,000 likes.
