Riot Games has held sponsorship talks with prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket as the League of Legends World Championship approaches in October — a signal that betting-style crypto platforms are edging closer to the heart of mainstream esports.
By Jennifer Kim | September 11, 2026
The Hook: The Maker of League of Legends Is Talking to Prediction Markets
Riot Games, the Tencent-owned developer behind League of Legends and Valorant, has discussed potential esports sponsorship agreements with both Kalshi and Polymarket, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 11, citing people familiar with the private talks. The discussions come just weeks before the League of Legends World Championship — esports’ biggest annual event — begins in October.
Riot has not committed to either platform, according to the report. But a spokesperson confirmed the interest is real. “Prediction markets are an emerging space that we’re evaluating with a focus on safeguarding competitive integrity, potential value for teams, impact on the fan experience, and alignment with our broader ecosystem goals,” Riot Games spokesperson Joe Hixson told Bloomberg.
What Are Prediction Markets, and Why Does Riot Care?
Prediction markets let people bet real money on the outcome of events — election results, sports scores, or in this case, esports matches. Think of them as stock exchanges for opinions: instead of buying shares of a company, you buy positions on whether a team wins. Kalshi and Polymarket are the two biggest players in the US market, and both have been racing to sign partnerships with sports leagues.
For Riot, the appeal is money that is already flowing — just not to them. The company has cited Sportradar data showing betting tied to League of Legends and Valorant reached 10.7 billion in 2024, with most of that activity taking place through unregulated markets and unlicensed bookmakers. A formal sponsorship would channel some of that demand toward regulated, official partners instead.
- 10.7 billion in 2024 betting — mostly through unregulated markets, per Riot’s cited Sportradar data.
- Official data requirement — any approved sponsor would need to obtain betting data through GRID Esports, Riot’s data partner, one source told Bloomberg.
- GRID already works with Polymarket — the platform partnered with GRID in June for official esports data.
- Betting sponsors allowed since 2025 — Riot began permitting traditional sports betting sponsorships, with restrictions to protect competitive integrity.
The Core Conflict: Young Fans, Big Money, Competitive Integrity
The stakes are unusually sensitive for Riot. Esports audiences skew younger than those of traditional sports, and the company has spent years positioning its leagues as family-friendly entertainment. Bringing prediction market sponsors — platforms that function much like sportsbooks — into that environment carries obvious reputational risk.
The reported GRID Esports data requirement shows how Riot plans to manage that tension. By forcing any sponsor to use official betting data supplied through its own partner, Riot keeps a hand on the informational faucet — reducing the chance of shady odds built on leaked information or match-fixing. Kalshi declined to comment on the discussions, while Polymarket did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Both platforms are already preparing for the space. Kalshi has been recruiting for an esports-focused position tasked with forming league partnerships, while Polymarket had employees working on esports by at least 2025, according to LinkedIn information cited by Bloomberg.
Market Implications: Prediction Markets’ Sports Land Grab Continues
The Riot talks extend a remarkable run of sports deals for both companies. At the end of August, Kalshi secured an exclusive partnership with the US Open tennis tournament, gaining prediction market partner status and restricting competitors from advertising at the venue and across television coverage. It also gained World Cup exposure through an agreement with ADI Predictstreet, FIFA’s official prediction market partner for the 2026 tournament.
Polymarket has pursued a similar strategy, signing agreements spanning Major League Baseball and the Bundesliga — where it became the league’s exclusive US prediction market partner. NBA star LeBron James confirmed a Polymarket partnership through a video posted on Sept. 5, with the initial campaign expected to focus on American football, according to CNBC.
The prize is growing fast. Combined monthly volume across Kalshi, Polymarket and Polymarket US reached a record 50.59 billion in July, with Kalshi accounting for 37.7 billion of that. Esports sponsorship would open a younger demographic that traditional sports betting brands have struggled to reach.
The Verdict
Nothing is signed, and Riot may walk away — the company explicitly says it is still evaluating. But the mere fact that the maker of the world’s biggest esport is negotiating with crypto prediction markets shows how far these platforms have traveled from their niche origins. For investors, the takeaway is that prediction markets are spending aggressively to become mainstream entertainment infrastructure, and esports is their next frontier. Whether fans — many of them too young to legally bet — welcome that shift is the question Riot’s executives are still weighing.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
riot doing sponsorship talks with polymarket while their own rules ban loL pros from betting on matches. the irony is thick
lol exactly what i was thinking. worlds volume on polymarket is gonna be huge either way, riot wants a cut
the irony gets better. hixson talking about competitive integrity in the same statement where riot courts kalshi money, while the pros themselves are banned from betting on matches. one rule for the players, another for the balance sheet
First stadium naming rights, now prediction markets. At least Kalshi is regulated, unlike the offshore books we dealt with in the 2000s.
kalshi being regulated is the entire reason riot can even take the meeting. worlds in october with a live odds ticker in the broadcast would be surreal tho
10.7 billion in betting volume tied to LoL and Valorant and Riot currently sees none of it. of course they want a cut. just hope the competitive integrity line Hixson mentioned survives contact with an actual sponsorship check
right? every sports league that took betting money said the exact same thing about integrity first. the money always wins that argument eventually
10.7 billion sitting on the table explains everything. the competitive integrity line survives exactly as long as the sponsorship check clears
exactly, 10.7 billion in betting volume tied to their games and riot sees none of it. someone at tencent probably asked why the esports book prints without them before worlds even starts
sportradar puts most of that 10.7B in unregulated books. riot pitching this as redirecting existing flow is the smartest version of the cash grab, at least its honest greed
honest greed is the right framing. that sportradar 10.7B number means the betting happens with or without them, question is just who collects the margin
Kalshi makes way more sense for Riot than Polymarket here. a CFTC-regulated exchange is an easier sell internally when your parent company is Tencent and Worlds is a global broadcast
yep, a CFTC regulated exchange reads way better to tencent lawyers than polymarket does. kalshi is the safe answer for the press release either way
kalshi is the safe answer for the press release but polymarket has the actual worlds volume. my money says the deal structure finds a way to include both
both makes sense honestly. kalshi for the press release, polymarket for the actual worlds order flow. riot is tencent owned, they know layered deals
Riot banning pros from betting while selling sponsorships to betting platforms is a two sided book older than esports itself. The leagues all survived the pearl clutching, so will this.
the two sided book line lol. riot banned pros from betting and now courts kalshi money, integrity lasts exactly one sponsorship cycle
imagine the worlds broadcast with a live kalshi odds ticker on screen. that is the actual product being pitched here and it prints engagement
add a bet button next to the ticker and riot prints money twice, once from kalshi and once from viewers who stick around for the sweat. cynical and very effective
a live odds ticker during draft phase would genuinely break the internet. riot selling that as fan engagement is wild, the pitch deck writes itself
a draft phase odds ticker is the worst idea for tilt. fans already flame junglers, imagine them doing it with live probabilities lol
jungler main here, i do not need a live ticker showing 23 percent win probability while im getting invaded in my own jungle lol
as a support main i am begging riot to never put live win probability on the broadcast. my adc tilts at 40 percent gold diff, imagine him seeing 12 percent flash mid drake fight lol
note the difference between the two partners here. kalshi is CFTC regulated, polymarket just settled with the DOJ. riot can pitch one to sponsors and quietly drop the other
and thats exactly why the leak exists. somewhere in LA people are briefing kalshi vs polymarket odds on who wins the deal, very on brand