The Sixers announced a multi-year deal Friday with Kalshi, which the team says makes them the first NBA team to name a prediction market partner. Financial terms of the Sixers-Kalshi partnership were not disclosed.
Facts about the deal come from the team's release, read on the NBA.com Sixers site Oct. 30, 2026, and from the Inquirer and SEPTA's service bulletin. League, Pennsylvania and court details come from the primary documents linked below. We did not contact the Sixers, Kalshi, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board or SEPTA for this story.
The Philadelphia 76ers announced Friday that Kalshi is now the Official Prediction Market Partner of the team. The release calls it a multi-year partnership and says it makes the Sixers the first NBA team to name such a partner. Financial terms of the Sixers-Kalshi partnership were not disclosed.
Per the release, Kalshi is a prediction market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Inquirer describes it as a prediction market and not a traditional sportsbook, where users trade "Yes" and "No" outcomes against other users, not against a house.
Under the deal, Kalshi will be the presenting partner of Sixers Posters, a digital art series by Philadelphia-connected artists, and of Beat the Pro, a season-long fan program that ends with an on-court event where selected fans can compete against a 76ers legend or personality "for the chance to win $76,000." Kalshi also gets in-arena visibility, social content such as Top Plays of the Month fan voting, and integrations across the team's app, mobile ticketing and team-owned digital platforms.
Kalshi is paying for SEPTA's Free Ride Program for fans heading home from tonight's game against the Knicks. The release says the rides are available "following the game" on the Broad Street Line from NRG Station, from 8:30 p.m. until midnight, with regular fares everywhere else. The game tips at 7:30 p.m., so the window opens during play.
Owen Morin, the Sixers' chief revenue officer of partnerships, said in the release the team saw "an opportunity to build a first-of-its-kind team partnership" after Kalshi's league-wide deal with the NBA. Morin told the Inquirer the team believes the market is "regulated in a way where the integrity is upheld."
That league deal was announced Monday, Oct. 26. The NBA named Kalshi and Polymarket its Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges and said the agreements include "limitations on permissible markets" and "affirmative prohibitions on trading NBA event contracts by league and team personnel." The exchanges get rights to NBA intellectual property and marketing, plus official NBA data from Sportradar, the league's data distribution partner. The data arrangement is the league's, and the Sixers' release does not mention data. The Sixers also remain partnered with sportsbook BetMGM, the Inquirer reports.
The league says it plans more of these arrangements. The same Oct. 26 release says the NBA expanded its agreement with DraftKings to include prediction markets, and that it "plans to expand its relationship with other current official sports betting partners, and others in the industry, in the coming weeks." The release lists DraftKings as an Authorized Prediction Market Operator, a separate category from the two preferred exchanges. It does not name the other partners.
Pennsylvania officials have taken a position on these markets. In comments to the CFTC announced May 5, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's executive director said the board believes prediction markets selling contracts on sporting events are illegal sports wagering under state law. The letter is dated April 30. We found no public board statement on the Sixers deal, and we did not contact the board. Attorney General Dave Sunday said Oct. 7 that "sports-related prediction markets should be viewed under the law as sports betting." The Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, ruled April 6 in a New Jersey case that Kalshi had shown a reasonable chance of success on its argument that federal law preempts state law, and upheld a preliminary injunction.
The attorney general's Oct. 7 release says the question has produced conflict among federal appeals courts. The Ninth Circuit ruled Aug. 28 in a Nevada case, and the Sixth Circuit ruled Sept. 25 in Ohio and Tennessee cases, that Kalshi had not shown federal law blocks those states from regulating its sports contracts. New Jersey officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit ruling. The petition is pending. The docket shows Kalshi asked Oct. 29 for more time to respond, and the request was granted Oct. 30, moving its response deadline to Dec. 7.
Separately, LeBron James, who signed with the Sixers in July, has his own endorsement deal with Polymarket, the NBA's other preferred exchange. Front Office Sports reported Sept. 16, citing sources, that Polymarket pays James $15 million a year and, according to one source, that he is an endorser, not an investor. Yahoo Sports, summarizing The Athletic, reported Oct. 5 that there is no evidence James' deal violates NBA rules or that the 76ers were involved. We found nothing linking it to the team's Kalshi deal.
Some fans reacted online. Heavy printed eight posts from X on Friday. By our count, five were critical of the deal or of gambling announcements in general, and three were jokes. That is a handful of posts, not a poll.
LeBron James goes back to Cleveland tonight, and he is not coming alone. He is bringing the best team in the East, a five-game win streak, and a reminder of the 29-point lead the Cavs blew the last time these teams met.
The Sixers are 8-1 and 7-0 when games enter clutch time. Maxey is third in the league in clutch points. ESPN has them languishing bottom-10 in offensive efficiency while sitting top-three defensively; Basketball-Reference has them 20th ORtg / 2nd DRtg. Cleveland, 7:30 ET, NBA Cup. Sample size still applies.
Nine games, 28.0 points, 37.0 minutes, 5.4 assists, and an 8-1 team. We went looking for the asterisk. Here's what we found.
The Sixers are 8-1 with a roster that includes LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey. Their local TV booth finished 29th of 30 in Awful Announcing's reader poll for the third year in a row. The idea that Marc Zumoff was part of the game without becoming the game does not fully hold up in the record.
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