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Major League Soccer in the US and the prediction market Polymarket have entered into a multi-year partnership deal.
Chris Schlosser, senior vice president of emerging ventures at MLS, told ESPN that conversation around the partnership began in mid-2025.
"Polymarket and many of their peers offer markets on MLS. And so we really looked at it and said, well, if we want to ensure the integrity of our sport, of our competition, we really need to lean in and figure out how best to partner with them so that we can ensure that the integrity principles that we hold dear are able to be upheld, not dissimilar, frankly, to what we do in sports betting," Schlosser said.
Schlosser said that Polymarket's availability across the country and the ability to engage soccer fans in states such as California and Texas, where sports betting isn't allowed, was "intriguing" to the league.
"Polymarket and many of their peers offer markets on MLS. And so we really looked at it and said, well, if we want to ensure the integrity of our sport, of our competition, we really need to lean in and figure out how best to partner with them so that we can ensure that the integrity principles that we hold dear are able to be upheld, not dissimilar, frankly, to what we do in sports betting," Schlosser said.
Schlosser said the partnership will also include integrity safeguards such as independent monitoring of trading activity on the MLS and Leagues Cup markets by integrity monitors such as IC360 and Sportradar.
Schlosser said that Polymarket's availability across the country and the ability to engage soccer fans in states such as California and Texas, where sports betting isn't allowed, was "intriguing" to the league.
Regulation of prediction markets is a hotly contested legal issue. Multiple state gaming regulators have sued Polymarket's competitor, Kalshi, and allege that the company is violating state laws by offering event contracts that mimic sports bets.
The NHL became the first major professional U.S. league to announce a deal with prediction markets in October last year.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
