DAZN collaborates with Polymarket to add prediction trading features to its live streams

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2025/06/09: Polymarket ties up with X as official prediction market partner 2025/11/12: PrizePicks partners with Polymarket to launch prediction markets in the US 2025/12/02: Kalshi and Polymarket hit record US$10 billion trading volume for November 2025/10/24: NHL signs multi-year deals with Kalshi and Polymarket

The Backstory

How prediction markets moved into the sports mainstream

Polymarket’s push into live sports streaming arrives after a year of alliances that dragged prediction markets into broader consumer channels. The company tied up with X as its official prediction market partner, promising integrated products that fuse Polymarket odds, Grok analysis and X’s real-time signals. It also struck a multi-year partnership with PrizePicks to embed event contracts inside one of the largest daily fantasy apps. Those moves, aimed at meeting users where they already are, previewed the strategy now playing out in streaming: take prediction trading out of a standalone site and thread it into high-engagement experiences in sports and entertainment.

The expansion has tracked a broader surge in prediction-market activity. In November, Kalshi and Polymarket combined for a record $10 billion in trading volume driven by retail participation, deeper product integrations and a steady drumbeat of news catalysts, according to data cited by The Block. Analysts describe the two as an emerging duopoly, with both platforms consolidating market share as they add distribution and brand visibility. Polymarket has aligned with major consumer portals, including Yahoo and Google Finance, and is now turning to premium live sports as the next front for growth.

DAZN’s plan to embed real-time probabilities during games and eventually host tradable contracts on-platform follows the blueprint: increase engagement with interactive markets that reflect what fans are already debating. The company’s intent to seek Commodity Futures Trading Commission approvals signals it is building for a regulated U.S. rollout rather than a bolt-on betting widget. If it succeeds, streaming could become a major acquisition funnel for prediction markets, blurring lines between viewing, data and trading.

The road back to the U.S. runs through federal derivatives rules

Polymarket’s return to the U.S. has been years in the making. Four years after agreeing to block U.S. users in a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over operating an unregistered venue, the platform gained a path back by acquiring the federally regulated QCX exchange group for $112 million. In early September, the CFTC issued a no-action letter that cleared the way for a relaunch. Filings detailed plans for four contract categories—athletic events, athletic spreads, total athletic scores and election winner markets—setting up a phased entry. The platform said it could relaunch as early as Oct. 3 as it worked through certifications and operational readiness.

The PrizePicks deal reinforced that trajectory. PrizePicks recently registered as a Futures Commission Merchant with the National Futures Association, positioning it to route customer orders to federally regulated exchanges. Through their integration, users would be able to buy and trade Polymarket event contracts inside the PrizePicks app, a model that mirrors the DAZN plan to host trading within the existing viewing experience. Together, these partnerships illustrate how prediction markets are threading themselves into regulated channels that look and feel different from state-by-state sportsbooks but still sit under federal market oversight.

Polymarket’s collaboration with X is another piece of the compliance-and-distribution puzzle. By surfacing probabilities and market moves in real time to a mass audience, the company can drive education and discovery while keeping the transactional layer inside entities operating with federal permissions. The intent is not just to reenter the U.S. but to do so in a way that normalizes prediction trading as a data product and a tradable instrument under derivatives rules.

Leagues lean in as regulators push back

Sports properties are testing the category’s reach. The NHL signed multi-year deals with Kalshi and Polymarket to use league data and branding across platforms and broadcasts, giving prediction markets high-profile exposure during tentpole events like the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Winter Classic. The partnerships mark a shift from cautious observation to sanctioned integration, reflecting leagues’ appetite for new forms of fan engagement and measurement.

The embrace is not universal. The American Gaming Association called the NHL agreements “deeply concerning,” arguing that entities operating under federal CFTC permissions should not sidestep state sports wagering rules. The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a notice clarifying it views sports event contracts as wagers that can only be offered in-state by licensees with sports-pool approval, underscoring the clash between federal derivatives regulation and state gambling frameworks. That friction will shape how quickly streaming platforms, fantasy operators and leagues can scale prediction trading in the U.S.

Legal scrutiny also reaches beyond sports. In the X partnership story, Polymarket acknowledged that some state regulators view prediction markets as a form of wagering that should be bound by state rules, and noted ongoing challenges affecting competitors such as Kalshi. DAZN’s plan to apply for CFTC approvals and tie its rollout to regulator signoff shows the industry learning from those fights and seeking to fit inside federal guardrails even as state-level disputes continue.

Surging volumes, rising valuations and a distribution land grab

Momentum has translated into capital and valuation gains. Kalshi doubled its valuation to $11 billion after a $1 billion round, while Polymarket’s acceleration and partnerships pushed its latest reported valuation to $8 billion, according to a recent roundup of market activity. The growth reflects investor conviction that prediction markets can monetize not just trading fees, but data, integrations and media.

Distribution is the common thread. Polymarket’s deals with X, Yahoo, Google Finance and PrizePicks each place probabilities where users are already consuming news, scores and commentary. The DAZN integration extends that logic into live video, where context is richest and session lengths are longest. If viewers spend entire games with shifting odds on-screen and a one-click route to trade, time spent could convert into liquidity, and liquidity into a reinforcing loop of better prices and tighter spreads.

Still, scale brings stakes. The bigger the audience and the more visible the branding, the more urgent the questions around consumer protections, suitability and market integrity. That is why DAZN’s insistence on regulators’ approval matters. As leagues and platforms align with federally overseen exchanges and clearinghouses, they will be judged on controls as much as on product innovation.

What to watch as streaming and prediction trading converge

DAZN’s move is another sign that prediction markets are shifting from niche crypto communities to mainstream sports and media. The company’s pathway—host Polymarket contracts, seek CFTC permissions, roll out U.S. features subject to approval—mirrors how the sector is professionalizing while trying to keep its edge. The NHL’s embrace and the AGA’s rebuke show the political economy around these products is unsettled. The outcome will influence whether prediction trading becomes a permanent fixture in broadcasts or remains a supplemental layer offered by select partners.

In the near term, expect more experiments that combine data, community and trading. The X integration could push real-time market signals into feeds and live discussions. The PrizePicks partnership will test whether fantasy audiences adopt event contracts alongside traditional props. And if regulators sign off, DAZN’s streams could become case studies for how in-play prediction markets affect engagement, churn and responsible-use metrics.

The stakes are clear: whoever controls the pipes to fans—social, fantasy, finance portals or streaming—will shape how prediction markets are consumed, regulated and monetized. Polymarket has spent the past year securing those pipes. Now it must prove that the model scales under the spotlight of U.S. compliance and the scrutiny that comes with prime-time sports.