TLDR
- The NBA named PrizePicks its official Daily Fantasy Sports partner in a multi-year deal giving the company rights to use league and team branding.
- PrizePicks previously paid nearly $15 million to settle with New York regulators for operating without a wagering license.
- European lottery operator Allwyn acquired a majority stake in PrizePicks in a deal valuing the company at up to $4.15 billion.
- Federal prosecutors charged 34 people in October 2025, including current and former NBA figures, in a betting and match-fixing scandal.
- The partnership raises questions about the NBA balancing commercial deals with its stated goal of tightening gambling-related integrity rules.
The NBA announced this week that PrizePicks is now the league’s official Daily Fantasy Sports partner. The multi-year agreement gives the Atlanta-based company the right to use NBA intellectual property in its DFS and free-to-play products.
PrizePicks also struck a separate deal with the National Basketball Players Association to use player images in promotional content. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
The company built its business around a pick’em format. Users select whether two to six players will finish above or below certain statistical thresholds in a given game.
Critics and state gambling regulators have argued that this format closely mirrors player prop parlays offered by licensed sportsbooks. That distinction has been a point of legal dispute across multiple states.
In February 2024, PrizePicks agreed to stop paid contests in New York. The company paid a settlement of nearly $15 million to the New York State Gaming Commission after regulators found it had been operating without a license since June 2019.
Several other states, including Florida, have also challenged or restricted similar DFS offerings. In California, Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an opinion that DFS amounts to sports betting and is illegal in the state.
PrizePicks secured a fantasy sports license in New York in late 2025. The company re-entered the state in February 2026 with an updated peer-to-peer style format.
PrizePicks Valuation and Allwyn Acquisition
The deal comes after a period of rapid growth for PrizePicks. In September 2025, European lottery operator Allwyn agreed to acquire a 62.3% stake in the company for about $1.6 billion. That deal valued PrizePicks at $2.5 billion, with a potential valuation of $4.15 billion tied to performance targets.
The acquisition closed in January. Allwyn reported that PrizePicks generated $339 million in EBITDA for the 12 months ending June 2025. Citizens Bank analysts said that figure made PrizePicks the third-largest U.S. gambling company by profitability.
PrizePicks has also moved into the prediction market space. It now offers sports event contracts through a product called PrizePicks Predict, which users can access alongside the DFS platform. The NBA deal makes no mention of prediction markets.
Other leagues have embraced prediction market partnerships. The NHL partnered with Polymarket and Kalshi in October. The MLB announced a deal with Polymarket last month, reportedly worth between $150 million and $300 million over up to three years.
Gambling Scandal Still Looming Over the League
The NBA signed this deal roughly five months after its most serious recent gambling scandal. On October 23, 2025, federal prosecutors charged 34 individuals in connection with alleged illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
Those charged included current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former player and coach Damon Jones, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. The indictment detailed at least seven NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024 where insiders allegedly shared confidential information, including injury statuses, to help bettors profit.
The case traces back to Jontay Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors before receiving a lifetime ban from the NBA in April 2024. Porter admitted to exiting games early so bettors could win prop bets.
The league has since tightened injury-reporting timelines. It also consulted with regulators and sportsbook operators to reduce the volume and types of player prop bets available.
The NBA has not partnered with any prediction market platforms. PrizePicks re-entered the New York market in February 2026 under its updated format.
