Genius Sports has struck new partnerships with both Polymarket and Kalshi within a day of each other, deepening a growing role in soccer prediction markets while positioning the sports-data company as a major infrastructure provider to the broader U.S. sector.
The agreements give both platforms access to official Genius sports data that can be used to create and settle contracts, along with integrity and marketing services. But the packages are not identical. Kalshi is getting real-time data across Genius’ full soccer portfolio, while Polymarket’s agreement adds league intellectual property and exclusive live-streaming rights for selected competitions.
The deals expand relationships Genius had already established with the two platforms through individual league partnerships and offer another indication that federally regulated prediction market platforms are beginning to rely on much of the same data infrastructure that has long powered traditional sportsbooks.
“Prediction markets will scale on a foundation of trusted, fast and accurate data, reliable technology and robust integrity services,” Genius Executive Vice President Sean Conroy said in announcing the Kalshi agreement.
The soccer-heavy agreements come just weeks after the World Cup drove record activity across prediction markets, highlighting soccer’s growing importance to platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.
Genius brings sportsbook-style infrastructure to prediction markets
Genius effectively sits between sports organizations and the companies building products around their games.
The company partners with leagues and federations to collect and distribute official data and, in some cases, live video. It then sells access to those feeds and other technology to sportsbooks and other customers. Genius says its live-data services are integrated with more than 550 sportsbook brands worldwide, including DraftKings, FanDuel and bet365.
For prediction market platforms, that data can provide a fast and authoritative record of what is happening during a game and ultimately determine how contracts settle. That is especially important for live in-game trading, where prices can move rapidly as events unfold on the field.
Genius acquires rights differently depending on the league. Rights for major properties such as the NFL and English Premier League are typically secured through competitive bidding, while smaller leagues may grant Genius data or streaming rights in return for technology and other services.
Financial terms of the new Kalshi and Polymarket agreements were not disclosed.
Kalshi adds Genius alongside Sportradar
Under its agreement announced Wednesday, Kalshi will receive real-time official data across the soccer competitions covered by Genius, including the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, Mexico‘s Liga MX, Argentina’s Primera División and France’s Ligue 1.
The verified data will provide a consistent source for settling covered sports contracts. Kalshi will also participate in Genius’ integrity information-sharing program, which the companies said will include restrictions on certain market types and give sports organizations greater visibility into activity surrounding their competitions. The announcement did not identify which types of contracts could be restricted.
Genius will also provide marketing services through media properties owned by Legend, the sports and gaming media company Genius acquired earlier this year.
The deal comes less than two months after Kalshi signed a similarly broad agreement with Genius rival Sportradar, raising the question of why the prediction market platform needs both.
A key reason lies in the fragmented nature of sports-data rights.
Sportradar’s June agreement gives Kalshi official data, live odds and other services across properties including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and UFC. Sportradar also provides integrity, customer-acquisition and fan-engagement tools and can work directly with brokers and market makers in Kalshi’s ecosystem.
Genius controls or distributes important rights that Sportradar does not, particularly across soccer. Taken together, the two partnerships give Kalshi access to a much broader official-data network.
Polymarket deal adds live sports streaming
Polymarket US’s Genius agreement, announced Tuesday, has a somewhat different emphasis.
Like Kalshi, Polymarket will receive official data for covered competitions, with the Genius feed used to determine contract outcomes and settlement. The platform will also participate in Genius’ integrity system, allowing leagues and governing bodies to monitor activity and coordinate around irregular trading patterns.
But the agreement also grants Polymarket league IP and exclusive live-streaming rights across selected competitions. Genius only specifically identified Serie A, Italy’s top professional soccer league, saying eligible U.S. users will be able to watch live matches alongside related real-time contracts.
Genius can offer those streams because it separately secured exclusive rights from Serie A to capture and distribute official data and low-latency video from Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana matches through the 2028-29 season.
The company did not identify the other competitions included in Polymarket’s streaming package. The deal does not give Polymarket streaming rights across Genius’ entire data portfolio.
The move nevertheless extends a strategy Polymarket unveiled just a day earlier. On Monday, the platform announced an exclusive agreement allowing U.S. users to watch roughly 20,000 ATP Tour and Challenger Tour tennis matches per season directly in its U.S. app. It marked the first live-video rights agreement among the major U.S. prediction market platforms.
Genius relationships started with individual leagues
Neither platform is entirely new to Genius.
In June, Kalshi and Polymarket announced separate league deals with Genius on the same day.
Kalshi’s World Cup sponsorship agreement with the Argentina Football Association provided for Genius, AFA’s official data and streaming partner, to supply verified data for creating and settling related contracts.
Polymarket’s U.S. sponsorship agreement with Liga MX similarly used Genius as the source of official data, with the company’s GeniusIQ technology operating across Liga MX stadiums.
The difference now is scale. Rather than appearing only behind individual league partnerships, Genius has established broader relationships directly with both prediction market platforms.
Data giants see a new customer base
The back-to-back agreements show why sports-data companies have an incentive to work with competing prediction market platforms rather than choosing one.
As sports contracts continue to be a big part of the prediction market business, platforms increasingly need fast official data, settlement infrastructure, integrity monitoring, league relationships and, in Polymarket’s case, live video. Genius can sell those services regardless of which exchange ultimately captures the largest share of trading.
Sportradar appears to see the same opportunity. When announcing its Kalshi agreement in June, CEO Carsten Koerl described prediction markets as a “compelling growth engine” and said the company expected to work with additional participants as the sector develops.
That suggests the two of the most dominant sports-data providers increasingly see prediction market platforms as a new customer base alongside traditional sportsbooks. For Genius, signing both Kalshi and Polymarket gives it an immediate foothold on both sides of that growing competition.
