The Philadelphia 76ers made history on Friday, October 30, 2026 — and judging by the reaction, it is not the kind of history their fans wanted. Hours before the team opened its NBA Cup schedule at home against the New York Knicks, the Sixers announced a multi-year deal with Kalshi, making them the first NBA team ever to name an official prediction market partner.
The team pitched it as a new way to engage fans. The fans, in large part, pitched it right back.
What the Sixers-Kalshi Deal Actually Includes
Kalshi is a prediction market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Instead of betting against a sportsbook, users buy "Yes" or "No" shares on real-world outcomes — everything from game results to elections to the weather. The Sixers deal gives Kalshi in-arena advertising, digital content, and promotional placements through the team's mobile app, ticketing platform, and other team-operated channels. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The partnership also comes with a bundle of fan programs. Kalshi will present Sixers Posters, a digital art series showcasing Philadelphia artists. It will run Beat the Pro, a virtual fan game that ends with an on-court event where fans compete against a member of the 76ers organization for a chance to win $76,000. Kalshi customers can also win merchandise and concessions through the Sixers app, and the company even funded free postgame SEPTA rides for fans leaving the October 30 game against the Knicks.
Team chief revenue officer of partnerships Owen Morin framed it as a first-of-its-kind opportunity, saying the team saw a chance to build a partnership "focused on delivering new content, creativity and engagement for 76ers fans." Kalshi's head of sports partnerships, Adam Barrick, said the company could not be more excited to have the 76ers as its first announced team partner.
How We Got Here: The NBA's Prediction Market Week
The Sixers did not act alone. Just four days earlier, on October 26, the NBA named Kalshi and rival platform Polymarket its preferred prediction market exchanges, signed a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC, and expanded its DraftKings partnership to include that company's prediction market business. The league's deals give it a say over which NBA markets the platforms can offer.
The money swirling around the space is enormous. Prediction markets reportedly generated more than $14 billion in trading volume over a single recent weekend. Kalshi announced on October 29 that it had raised $1 billion in new funding and is now valued at $40 billion. LeBron James reportedly signed a $15-million-a-year endorsement deal with Polymarket in September. Kalshi has also signed deals with several Major League Baseball clubs, including the Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, Padres, and Giants.
In other words, the Sixers are the first NBA team through the door — but the door was opened by the league itself, and other teams are expected to follow.
The Fan Reaction: Mostly Boos, Not Cheers
Here is the honest answer to the question every Sixers fan is asking: no, this does not appear to be popular with the fan base. There is no poll of 76ers fans on the deal, but the visible reaction on social media after the announcement ran heavily, almost overwhelmingly, against it. Outlets covering the announcement described fans as "downright furious" and facing "heavy criticism," and the posts collected from X tell that story in the fans' own words.
One fan called the agreement "Disgraceful," writing that leagues and teams getting into bed with these companies "just amplifies the toxicity" and asking, "How much money is enough?" Another wrote, "Selling a product of competitive integrity and partnering with prediction markets will never not be hilarious." Others were blunter: "This is disgusting." "Gambling is ruining sports." "Oh brother." "BOOOOOOO."
One fan summed up the exhaustion many seem to feel: "Looking forward to that day that I hope will exist at some point in my future when I will not hear or see an ad, press release or announcement having something to do with gambling. Today, however, is apparently not that day." Another simply declared, "Society is beyond cooked."
Not even the freebies softened the mood. As one outlet put it, some fans would just as soon pay their own SEPTA fare, judging by the reaction. Another fan connected the deal to the franchise's past sponsorship history, writing that the team had finally dumped its "crypto" partnership "just to do this," and wondering whether it was an ownership decision. And at least one fan found the joke in it, asking whether the Sixers' famous fourth-quarter comebacks happen "whenever their stock is low."
Why Fans Are So Angry: The Gambling Concerns
The backlash is not really about one sponsor. It is about a direction fans feel the sport has been heading for years, and a line they believe this crosses. A prediction market is not a traditional sportsbook, but to many fans the distinction is paper-thin: it is still a platform where money rides on what happens on the court, promoted by the team itself.
The integrity worries are real and recent. The NBA has introduced restrictions on permissible markets and banned league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts. Those safeguards followed previous gambling controversies, including the lifetime ban handed to former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter in 2024 for violating league gambling rules. Fans pointed to that history, with one noting that commissioner Adam Silver had made a fuss over far smaller matters while this, in their view, gets a pass.
The team, for its part, insists the setup is safe. Morin told The Philadelphia Inquirer, which broke the news, that the team wants "to do this in a really safe way" and believes the platform is "regulated in a way where the integrity is upheld." It is worth noting the Sixers already have a commercial partnership with traditional sportsbook BetMGM, so Kalshi adds a second gambling-adjacent partner rather than the first.
So, Is It Popular With Sixers Fans?
Based on everything visible so far, the answer is no — at least not among the vocal fans reacting online. The announcement's perks, from free train rides to a shot at $76,000, did not change the tone of the conversation. What fans seem to want is less gambling in their basketball, not a new, team-branded version of it.
That said, the loudest voices online are not the whole fan base, and the team's bet is clearly that the silent majority will either not mind or will enjoy the new games and giveaways. The Sixers are now the test case for the entire NBA. If other teams follow — and the league's deals suggest they will — Philadelphia will be remembered as the franchise that went first. Whether fans eventually accept it, or whether the boos were an early warning, is a story that will play out all season long.
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