Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James hinted at an upcoming collaboration with Polymarket through a clip shared on Instagram and X on Saturday, a month and a half after speculators across prediction market networks exchanged upwards of $273 million in contracts linked to his choice to sign with the franchise.
A representative for James informed The Block that the footage serves as a preview for a broader promotional initiative launching next week, that James’s collaboration with Polymarket will center on football, and that his previous contract with DraftKings has concluded.
“Welcome to Polymarket HQ. Coming soon,” James penned in updates on X alongside Instagram. The description further states: “In partnership with @Polymarket.”
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 5, 2026
The 14-second clip displays James walking into a designed Polymarket workspace prior to the display of the enterprise’s symbol alongside the text “COMING SOON.” Polymarket shared the X clip under an hour after its release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. “thanks for swinging by our HQ,” the Polymarket profile responded to James’s X entry, appending a goat symbol.
The publications appear to mark the initial disclosure of a formal partnership between James and Polymarket. Although James acknowledged a “partnership” alongside the forecasting market site within the messages, it remains uncertain whether the preview is meant for an upcoming commercial or if James holds a more extensive ambassador, investor, or sponsorship arrangement with the company.
Polymarket did not instantly answer inquiries for comment sent by The Block.
James’s most recent free agency choice resulted in $273 million worth of associated contracts changing hands throughout prediction platform networks, Legal Sports Report stated, exceeding any individual basketball fixture. Front Office Sports estimated the market volume at roughly $226 million on Kalshi and over $43 million on Polymarket’s global platform.
Prediction platform speculators largely miscalculated the result, however. Prior to James’s choice becoming public knowledge, the 76ers hovered around 9% probability while the Miami Heat sat near 45%, according to Legal Sports Report. James subsequently inked a two-year, $8 million deal featuring a player option.
James previously penned a “multi-year” talent ambassador contract with DraftKings in 2024. The agreement featured James “joining DraftKings as a talent ambassador concerning football and select primary marquee events as part of a multi-year accord,” according to the announcement. It remains ambiguous whether that alliance continues to be active and if it intersects with the upcoming Polymarket rollout.
Certain prominent replies appearing directly underneath James’ Instagram and X entries condemned his connection with the enterprise. “My glorious king why are you promoting evil sports gambling,” stated one supporter in the Instagram post’s top-liked message, garnering roughly 4,500 likes as of publication time. “Don’t do this Bron,” an X user posted in that platform’s top-liked response thus far, accumulating exceeding 3,000 likes.
Updated at 12:18 p.m. ET with details from a LeBron James spokesperson.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/deals/2026-09-05-lebron-james-teases-polymarket-partnership-in-new-social-media-video-413608.
