Polymarket is officially banned in Ontario for the time being, but that isn’t preventing it from signing major Canadian-facing partnerships.
The top-division league in Spanish soccer, La Liga, has named the prediction market platform as its Official and Exclusive Prediction Market Partner in Canada and the U.S. in a multi-year deal.
La Liga said the deal will allow Polymarket to offer fans “the ability to engage with Spain’s premier soccer league and its stars at an unprecedented level.” It cited aspects such as broadcast visibility, fan-focused digital and social programming, and exclusive fan experiences such as VIP match hospitality and virtual meet-and-greets with La Liga legends.
Polymarket also gets exclusive rights to use the intellectual property, such as names and logos, of the league and its member clubs, including the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
“Soccer’s growth, especially in North America, is spearheaded by young, diverse and multicultural audiences who consume the game across multiple screens, so it’s our goal to continue to engage these demographics in new and unique ways,” said Boris Gartner, Chief Executive Officer of long-term La Liga partner Relevent. “It’s imperative we go beyond traditional engagement efforts in order to bring these audiences closer to the beautiful game than ever before, and we couldn’t think of a better partner than Polymarket to achieve that.”
“Our goal is to give fans a more expressive way to follow the game, where opinions on players, matches, and season outcomes can be reflected in real time,” said Polymarket Founder and CEO Shayne Coplan, referring to users’ ability to trade on sports event contracts.
La Liga said that the partnership will also include collaborative work to uphold sporting integrity, leveraging Polymarket’s recently announced sports integrity platform in partnership with Palantir Technologies and TWG AI.
Polymarket already a partner of NHL, MLB, MLS
La Liga is the latest sports league to partner with Polymarket. The company also has official deals with the NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer, all of which have Canadian teams and significant Canadian audiences.
It also has other high-profile agreements in place with the likes of UFC and social media site X.
Ontario temporarily banned Polymarket last year
In Ontario, the home of two NHL teams, Toronto Blue Jays baseball, and MLS’s Toronto FC, Polymarket is officially banned from operating until 2027 under a settlement agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission.
Ontarians can access its market data but the firm is not allowed to accept deposits or trades or advertise in the province, although a recent report noted that promotional materials for the company were handed out outside Rogers Centre on Blue Jays game days.
While it is offline in Ontario, and it also lists Quebec as a restricted jurisdiction in its terms of use, Polymarket is online and available in other parts of Canada.
Canadian regulator prohibits most binary contracts
Federally, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) regulatory body has banned any entities from offering or advertising “binary options” that resolve within 30 days or less, like yes/no prediction markets, since 2017.
There is a limited exemption for Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) members that are authorized by CIRO to facilitate Canadian access to event contracts on non-Canadian markets; to date, only two companies have been given such authorization, and neither Interactive Brokers Canada nor Wealthsimple has been green-lit to offer sports.
The CSA and CIRO issued a joint press release last week to remind the public that “anyone trading, or facilitating trading, in event contracts which are securities or derivatives must follow applicable requirements under securities or derivatives legislation, such as registration or recognition requirements.” It said that failure to comply may lead to enforcement action.
“To date, no prediction market has been recognized as an exchange or registered as a dealer” by the CSA, added the regulators’ release.
