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LeBron James will make more money from his Polymarket partnership than from playing for the 76ers, Front Office Sports has learned. The prediction-market platform is paying James $15 million a year under the recently announced partnership, sources tell FOS. James is not an investor in Polymarket, just an endorser, one source says. The length of his agreement with Polymarket was not clear, although one source says it’s an “ongoing engagement” with multiple “deliverables,” such as social media posts and other content. Under the deal, James will focus on promoting football, not basketball.
Derek Jeter and Eli Manning, who also appeared in the Polymarket commercial first teased by James, are being paid under “smaller” endorsement deals than James’s, one source says. The commercial featured a slew of other athletes and celebrities, including Spike Lee, Reggie Bush, and Alexandra Daddario; some of the celebrities were paid just for that one commercial, rather than for longer-term endorsement deals, the source says. Other than James, Jeter, and Manning, it wasn’t clear who has long-term agreements in place versus who received a one-time payment to appear in the ad.
Both Polymarket and Kalshi are official partners of the NHL, while Polymarket is MLB’s exclusive prediction-market partner and Kalshi is an “authorized prediction market” under MLB’s integrity framework, which has allowed it to do a number of team-level deals. The NBA and NFL have yet to embrace prediction markets. Sources tell FOS the former is closing in on agreements, while the latter remains a staunch holdout.
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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is looking into Bill Simmons’s recent admission that he had his daughter’s boyfriend place bets for him on The Ringer founder’s FanDuel account. “The Commission is aware of the comments made on the Bill Simmons Podcast and staff are currently reviewing the matter,” MGC spokesman Thomas Mills tells Front Office Sports. FanDuel told FOS it had voided the bets and sanctioned the account after becoming aware of Simmons’s comments.
Prosecutors have alleged Rozier told Laster he would leave a March 23, 2023 game between his Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans early with an injury. Laster allegedly provided sports bettors with that information, allowing the bettors to make bets on the under on Rozier's statistics. Rozier and Laster allegedly agreed to a roughly $70,000 bribe for that information.
Federal prosecutors want to put Terry Rozier’s childhood friend and alleged co-conspirator back in jail over claims he has tried to influence witnesses, including through threats. Rozier’s attorney says this is a “desperate attempt” by the government to portray the former NBA guard and his associates in a negative light. De’Niro Laster was first charged in the government’s sprawling sports betting case last October. According to the indictment, Rozier—while he was still on the Hornets—informed Laster he would pretend to be hurt and prematurely take himself out of a March 2023 game. Laster then allegedly sold that information to multiple co-conspirators, who bet the under on multiple Rozier lines for about $100,000.
Laster, who has been free on bond, has violated the conditions of his release, according to the government, which has accused him of obstructing justice and tampering with witnesses by attempting to influence their testimony and intimidating them, including through social media posts. “The government must prepare for trial and should not be put in the untenable position of having to instead direct its efforts towards constantly re-investigating a defendant on bond who is repeatedly attempting to tamper with the judicial process,” prosecutors said in a significantly redacted 13-page letter filed with the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday.
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The government also has concerns about a “crew” called “GMB” that includes Laster, Rozier, and other friends. Prosecutors say that group has shown they have “access to guns” through photos on social media posted prior to the charges that were brought in this case. The “online flaunting of gun access” has contributed to the government’s concerns about potential threats. Rozier’s attorney, David Markus, tells Front Office Sports that “GMB” stands for “Get More Blessings.” That’s the motto of Rozier’s nonprofit foundation, 12 Blessings, he says, which “raises money to empower disadvantaged kids.”
“The nickname started with Terry’s high school basketball team,” Markus says. “The government’s attempt to imply that it was some sort of criminal organization is absurd. Terry has never been charged with any firearms offense or with intimidating a witness, and nothing in this filing alleges that he did either. It is nothing more than a dog whistle and a desperate attempt by the government to taint Terry because it sees its case is falling apart.” “In this case, GMB stands for ‘government’s massive blunder,’” Markus adds.
Alexa Philippou: WNBA spox statement on a since-deleted post in which Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers bantered about a friendly wager ahead of yesterday's Dream-Wings matchup: "While the social media post was intended to be lighthearted, WNBA players are well aware of the league's policies prohibiting betting on WNBA games and receive training every year reinforcing those policies. We recognized that the post missed the mark, removed it shortly after it was published, and addressed the matter internally. We will also use this as an opportunity to reemphasize with the players involved that conversations about wagering on WNBA games, even when intended as a joke, can have negative consequences.”