Last month, LeBron James made headlines by signing a significant deal with Polymarket, marking his move to the prediction market operator after the end of his contract with DraftKings. The all-time leading scorer in the NBA joined Polymarket right before his first game of the regular season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He adds his name to a roster of celebrities backing the platform, which includes Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, and Spike Lee. However, another prominent athlete from Philadelphia has ended his relationship with Polymarket.
Saquon Barkley, the Philadelphia Eagles running back and three-time Pro Bowler, revealed to Front Office Sports that he has sold off his shares in Polymarket. He explained that guidance from the NFL prompted his decision to divest from the investment, which he did not disclose. The NFL has been vocal in its opposition to recent sports event contract proposals from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Barkley indicated that he received direction from the league ahead of the new season. "I was in it before, but no bueno," he stated during his interview.
While the NFL remains without a prediction market partnership, the NBA is moving forward. This week, the NBA established a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding with the CFTC, setting up guidelines for event contracts within the league. As part of this agreement, Kalshi and Polymarket have been named as preferred partners, and the league retains veto power to reject any contracts deemed objectionable.
In related news, Kalshi is facing troubles in Utah, where Attorney General Derek Brown filed a criminal complaint against its executives. The complaint, filed on October 29, names CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara as defendants following an undercover operation involving 12 trades totaling $114.87 on the platform. The state has accused Kalshi of promoting gaming, labeling it a "public nuisance" that causes significant harm to residents. Kalshi's spokesperson criticized the complaint as political overreach, stating, "This is a crazy overreach; Utah is clearly playing politics. We look forward to putting a stop to this."
Despite the legal challenges, Kalshi secured $1 billion in funding this Thursday at a remarkable valuation of $40 billion. Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management were co-leaders in the latest funding round, which increased Kalshi's valuation by 81.8% since receiving a $22 billion valuation in May. In October 2025, Kalshi had been valued at around $5 billion.
Polymarket also faced issues recently, temporarily pausing operations on its offshore exchange for nearly four hours due to a security breach that resulted in significant financial losses for its users. Cyber hacks reportedly drained approximately $2.73 million from about 737 accounts within an hour. Polymarket attributed the attack to a vulnerability in DebugBear, a third-party monitoring service. They assured users on the platform X that "Anyone who has been impacted will be made whole."
Most of the affected accounts belonged to retail traders who incurred losses of less than $1,000 each, with approximately 40% losing under $100. The median loss amounted to $171, though four accounts suffered losses exceeding $100,000, accounting for 43% of all impacted accounts. By Friday afternoon, Polymarket confirmed that at least 689 of the affected users had been fully refunded and stated that they are collaborating with law enforcement on the ongoing investigation.
