{"id":15702,"date":"2026-09-09T23:57:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=15702"},"modified":"2026-09-09T23:57:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:57:58","slug":"prediction-markets-spend-big-on-celebrity-campaigns-even-as-sydney-sweeney-and-lebron-james-ads-stir-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=15702","title":{"rendered":"Prediction markets spend big on celebrity campaigns even as Sydney Sweeney and LeBron James ads stir backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Prediction markets are splurging on ad campaigns featuring A-listers\u2014and the approach is starting to rankle some observers. On Wednesday, sports trading platform Novig released a video of actress Sydney Sweeney appearing nearly nude while promoting the company\u2019s sports-only offering ahead of the NFL season opener. The advertisement swiftly drew scrutiny of prediction markets\u2019 marketing tactics and efforts to increase user engagement on their platforms.<\/p>\n

The advertisement came a day after Polymarket enlisted basketball star LeBron James for a star-packed football-season commercial featuring other prominent athletes, including Eli Manning and Derek Jeter, along with entertainment figures such as filmmaker Spike Lee and model Emily Ratajkowski.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelling gambling by selling sex. Society is crumbling before our eyes,\u201d one user wrote of Novig\u2019s promotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn, I can\u2019t believe LeBron is a sellout now,\u201d another user wrote in response to Polymarket\u2019s ad.<\/p>\n

LeBron’s Polymarket deal knocks him out of GOAT contention. The title stays with Michael Jordan, a man untainted by the allure of sports gambling.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Wrote (@joewrote) September 9, 2026<\/p>\n

The celebrity advertising push comes as prediction markets expand rapidly across the United States, despite a contentious legal and regulatory fight. The platforms let users buy and sell contracts on outcomes ranging from sports and politics to pop culture, often with just a few clicks. Their rapid growth has intensified scrutiny over whether sports-related contracts should be treated as federally regulated financial products or gambling under state law.<\/p>\n

To sustain that momentum, prediction market companies are pouring money into high-profile marketing campaigns. Kalshi and Polymarket\u2014two of the sector\u2019s largest players, each valued at roughly $20 billion\u2014have spent heavily to recruit celebrities to promote their platforms. Because sports-related contracts account for a large share of activity on their platforms, the companies have timed major campaigns around the start of major sports seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to the World Cup, soccer\u2019s biggest international tournament, Kalshi ran ads featuring Argentina captain Lionel Messi alongside teammates Nicol\u00e1s Otamendi and Rodrigo De Paul as part of a commercial partnership with the country\u2019s national football federation. The platform also featured Luka Modri\u0107, captain of Croatia\u2019s national team, in a separate campaign.<\/p>\n

Before that, Kalshi also enlisted Oscar-nominated actor Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet for a series of ads set in mundane places, including a dentist\u2019s office and a music store.<\/p>\n

The marketing push comes as prediction markets confront mounting uncertainty over their legal future. In August, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Nevada could enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi\u2019s sports-event contracts, rejecting the company\u2019s argument that federal commodities law preempted state oversight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With appellate courts now divided, the dispute over who gets to regulate the fast-growing industry could reach the Supreme Court as early as next year.<\/p>\n

#Prediction #markets #spend #big #celebrity #campaigns #Sydney #Sweeney #LeBron #James #ads #stir #backlash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prediction markets are splurging on ad campaigns featuring A-listers\u2014and the approach is starting to rankle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[5635,6821,237,14650,9017,1354,7540,464,17422,166,3577,1526,21072,21071,4445],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}