LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Spike Lee Join Polymarket ‘Squads’

Polymarket is the world’s largest prediction market by trading volume, but the crypto-based platform trails in the US. In seeking to increase its market share for Polymarket.us, the company is betting big on multimillion-dollar partnerships with some of the biggest names in sports and pop culture. LeBron James stars in an advertisement for Polymarket. James is one of many celebrities now promoting the crypto-based prediction market. (Image: Polymarket) With sports accounting for the most volume on prediction markets, Polymarket announced today (Sept. 8) that it’s bringing aboard LeBron James, Derek Jeter, and Eli Manning to promote its sports event contracts. The three icons have a combined 11 championship titles across their resumes. James, Jeter, and Manning are helping Polymarket rollout Polymarket HQ, a fictional headquarters for the prediction market where each floor represents a different trading category. The first in a series of Polymarket HQ advertisements, James arrives on the “Sports” floor to find a chaotic workplace, where various athletes and celebrities are mulling over Polymarket trading. Along with James, Jeter, and Manning, the 60-second spot includes appearances by Spike Lee, Alexandra Daddario, John Leguizamo, Craig Robinson, Rajon Rondo, Reggie Bush, and Sue Bird. Step inside Polymarket HQ. Somebody get the ice bath ready for @EliManning after that tackle. In partnership with Polymarket pic.twitter.com/xfv1nr6OOb— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 8, 2026 With more than 231 million social media followers and global name recognition, LeBron commands top dollar for promotional deals. LeBron’s aligning with Polymarket followed his marketing deal with DraftKings, which is also now heavily invested in prediction markets, expiring over the summer. Polymarket Groups Polymarket wants to make trading on prediction markets more social. To that end, the platform is launching “Squads,” private spaces inside the Polymarket app where friends can socialize and discuss markets and share picks. People are constantly debating what’s going to happen next with their friends and sharing predictions in group chats,” said Travis VanderZanden, Polymarket’s chief growth officer. “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.” Polymarket plans to use the Polymarket HQ campaign to promote Squads. The platform says Squads “brings the conversations already happening in group chats” into the prediction market’s ecosystem. With Squads, users can create private groups and invite friends to join. Members can chat about games, markets, and predictions, share positions and combos, and see what other Squad members are trading. Socializing Prediction Markets Polymarket continues to invest heavily in communalizing prediction markets. This past March, Polymarket opened a popup prediction market destination in Washington, DC, called The Situation Room. Described as a “newsbar,” the venue on famed K Street featured large flatscreen televisions displaying real-time Polymarket markets, X feeds, and Bloomberg terminals, accompanied by a full-service bar and small plates. The Situation Room was largely a bust, highlighted by a power issue on opening night that took the live data offline. Those who did patronize the venue primarily consisted of journalists instead of actual customers and traders. The post LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Spike Lee Join Polymarket ‘Squads’ appeared first on Casino.org.