MLS, or Major League Soccer, and its commercial arm, SUM, or Soccer United Marketing, have announced a multi-year collaboration with Polymarket. The platform is named an Official Partner of MLS and Leagues Cup. It is also positioned as the Official and Exclusive Prediction Market Partner of the league across its main properties. These include MLS Cup, the MLS All-Star Game and Leagues Cup.
Leagues are searching for new engagement formats. MLS has become one of the first major football leagues to formally integrate prediction-market insights into its digital ecosystem. This comes as prediction markets are becoming more common across professional sports in the United States.
MLS and SUM say the collaboration will focus on embedding prediction-based insights across league platforms. This will give fans a data-driven view of live competition. The deal also includes integrity measures. Independent teams will monitor trading activity and coordinate which MLS and Leagues Cup markets to offer.
They can blur lines for fans and create new integrity risks. Operators, however, usually present prediction markets as informational tools, not as traditional betting products. Even small, niche markets can make heightened exposure to manipulation around performance for players and officials.
The danger lies in accessibility and normalization. Prediction markets can lower psychological barriers and encourage speculative behavior without the consumer protections that regulated sportsbooks provide. Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket, said that as the soccer audience in the United States continues to grow, fans are seeking new ways to engage more deeply with the game. The collaboration lets them to surface real-time collective sentiment around key moments, matches and season-long storylines.
Gary Stevenson, MLS Deputy Commissioner and Soccer United Marketing president, added that partnering with Polymarket allows them to introduce prediction markets as a new engagement format. It also positions MLS as an early adopter among global football leagues.
