Polymarket moved ahead of prediction market rivals on the Apple App Store after launching a celebrity-led advertising campaign featuring LeBron James, Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, Richard Sherman, John Leguizamo and Spike Lee.
The campaign also introduced Squads, a new social feature for the US Polymarket app that allows users to discuss markets, share picks and trade together. The 90-second commercial was directed by Peter Berg, whose credits include the television series Friday Night Lights.
The ad generated more than 15.5 million views on James’ X account. On Tuesday, Polymarket ranked first among free finance apps by downloads, ahead of Kalshi, Capital One Mobile, PayPal and Venmo.
Celebrity campaign supports product launch
The campaign followed James’ announcement over Labor Day Weekend that he had entered into a commercial partnership with Polymarket. James, a supporter of The Ohio State University, revealed the relationship in a short video posted on X as Ohio State opened its college football season with a 56-3 win over Miami (Ohio).
The commercial uses slapstick comedy and sports references. Manning catches a ball from a Jugs machine while absorbing a tackle, before passing it to James near an elevator carrying the Polymarket logo. James then exchanges a handshake with Jeter.
Polymarket has not disclosed the campaign’s cost. The production would have involved director, agency, concept, set construction, post-production, visual effects, licensing and sound design expenses. In late August, Polymarket disclosed that it was seeking a $21 billion valuation in a funding round led by 1789 Capital, the venture firm of Donald Trump Jr.
Travis VanderZanden, chief growth officer at Polymarket, said Squads was intended to combine social discussion with trading activity. “With Squads, we’re bringing the conversation and trading together so friends can follow the events they care about and make their predictions in one place,” he said.
Concerns over sports prediction markets
The campaign drew criticism from anti-problem gambling advocates. Craig Carton, a sports talk host with WFAN 660 AM in New York and a recovering compulsive gambler, criticised the athletes’ endorsements. He argued that “unregulated” gambling markets were contributing to bankruptcy and keeping children out of school, while regulated sportsbooks prohibit customers under 21 from betting.
Prediction markets are regulated federally by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while customers aged 18 to 21 can trade sports-event contracts on those platforms. A CFTC deputy general counsel recently advertised a senior role focused on developing formal event-contract rules, describing the planned regulations as among the commission’s most impactful in decades.
Polymarket’s campaign launched less than 48 hours before the NFL regular-season opener between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. At 6pm ET, Polymarket traders gave Seattle a 62% chance of winning and New England a 39% chance. A $100 contract on the Patriots carried a potential payout of $247.35.
James’ multi-year partnership with DraftKings expired earlier this summer.
