MLS Taps Polymarket for Historic Partnership; League Creating ‘Authorized’ Market Designation
MLS becomes the second major US league to partner with Polymarket, creating a new ‘Authorized Prediction Market’ status to control listing integrity.
Major League Soccer (MLS) is legitimizing crypto-based prediction markets. Through its commercial arm, Soccer United Marketing, the league announced a multi-year exclusive partnership with Polymarket today, designating the platform as its first "Authorized Prediction Market."
The "Authorized" Pivot
This is not a standard logo slap. The deal creates a regulatory sandbox for the league: the "Authorized Prediction Market" (APM) designation. Under this framework, MLS exerts direct control over which markets are listed. While fans can trade on match outcomes, the league has explicitly banned high-variance prop bets prone to insider manipulation, such as yellow cards or manager firings.
The agreement includes third-party integrity monitoring of trading activity, a requirement likely aimed at satisfying U.S. regulatory concerns regarding unregulated derivatives.
"These guys all have markets on MLS," Chris Schlosser, MLS SVP of Emerging Ventures, told Sports Business Journal. "So we need to figure out a way to get the best possible integrity protections, no different than our activities in sports betting."
Institutional Context
MLS is now the second major U.S. sports entity to formally integrate prediction markets, following the NHL’s partnership with both Polymarket and Kalshi in October. The trend signals a distinct shift in how sports properties view decentralized betting liquidity: rather than fighting it, they are attempting to ring-fence it.
By creating the APM designation, MLS is effectively bifurcating the market: "official" liquid markets sanctioned by the league, and "rogue" markets that lack institutional data verification. For Polymarket, which processed billions in volume during the 2024 election cycle, the deal represents a critical step in normalizing its product for non-crypto natives ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Despite the high-profile integration, the Polygon (POL) token, the network underpinning Polymarket, remained mute, trading flat at $0.12.
