MLB inks exclusive deal with prediction-market company before Opening Day

Major League Baseball is officially in the prediction-market business as Opening Day approaches. Baseball entered an exclusive deal with Polymarket to be MLB’s official prediction market exchange on Thursday, March 19. As a result of the deal, Polymarket gets the rights to use MLB marks and logos and official data from Sportradar, the leading distributor of real-time sports data.

MORE: Baseball players to win WBC, World Series and MLB MVP titles Prediction markets allow participants to trade contracts on the results of real-world events, such as elections, economic data or sports. Polymarket already has contracts with the NHL, MLS and UFC. Front Office Sports reporter Ben Horney broke the news of the MLB deal before the official announcement was released.

A source told Horney the deal is for three years and $300 million . MLB approached the deal as a chance to provide input on the rules governing the billions of dollars expected to be traded on baseball this season. Baseball signed a memorandum of understanding with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Michael Selig centered on the sharing of information confidentially.

The two sides will meet regularly to discuss potential threats to integrity posed by specific markets, per ESPN . “The new agreements that we formed with Polymarket and the CFTC are imperative steps in proactively managing the new and rapidly growing prediction market space,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Protecting the integrity of the game on the field is our top priority.