Splash Sports to Partner With Polymarket, Offer In-App Trades Ahead of NFL Kickoff
Prediction market platform Polymarket and “social sports gaming platform” Splash Sports announced a strategic partnership last week. Polymarkets should become available on Splash “ahead of NFL kickoff,” a Polymarket press contact told Gaming America via email.
The contact said the target launch date is “hopefully within the next month or so.”
A press release announcing the partnership touted a $21 million NFL survivor contest on Splash Sports. The platform is calling it “the biggest NFL survivor in history.” Survivor contests, in which contestants try to pick straight-up winners each week during the NFL season, have become extremely popular. They’re among the products available on Splash, which claims 2 million active users.
The logic of the partnership appears to stem from cross-selling Splash’s user base on Polymarket. Individuals willing to bet on things like survivor pools and daily fantasy sports (DFS) should have a natural interest in prediction markets.
Putting Polymarkets in the Splash app itself will make the transition from these games to Polymarket trades as frictionless as possible.
“With this partnership, we can now put the most interesting markets in front of our highly engaged audience to complement their strategy at relevant times throughout the season as they compete,” said Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Splash Sports Joel Milton in the release. “Whether a user is hedging their survivor pick in Week 18, increasing their position on picks they like, or exploring markets while they watch real-time leaderboard updates, markets will enhance the games our users already know and love.”
NFL Season Start Is a Logical Jumping-Off Point
Gambling on sports is big business, and nothing attracts more betting interest than the NFL. Both Polymarket and Splash Sports figure to do a ton of their business around the NFL season, so launching the in-app markets on Splash before NFL season would seem paramount.
Polymarket offers trades on all sorts of things, including politics, crypto, and current events. But sports account for a staggering 99% of volume on its U.S.-facing product, according to a recent CNN report.
Splash, meanwhile, offers a variety of different real-money sports contests. It hosts survivor contests on several sports, most notably the NFL and March Madness. There are also pick’em leagues, season-long against-the-spread contests, and more.
Splash is available in most states, but product availability varies depending on local regulations. For instance, customers in South Carolina can sign up for survivor contests. However, they can’t participate in spread picks pools.
Splash DFS Product Will Remain Available
Splash Sports has gotten in on the demi-betting DFS rush with its “Quick Picks” product. These products allow users to guess whether athletes will exceed or fall short of statistical thresholds in a similar manner to sports betting users who gamble on player props.
As long as the users make at least two selections, the “more/less” DFS products are legally distinct from bets, at least in most states.
Since Polymarkets directly compete with these offerings, Gaming America asked whether the Polymarkets on Splash will replace the Quick Picks.
“This will not replace Splash’s DFS product,” the press contact wrote. “Instead, it will be a new offering that enables Splash users to trade prediction markets directly within the app.”
According to the press release, users will select a standalone “Splash Market” tab if they want to access Polymarket. Along with contests and Quick Picks, this will make three distinct verticals available on Splash Sports, each under its own tab.
Splash/Polymarket Survivor Contest Aims to Top Circa Guarantee
While Polymarket and fellow prediction verticals have taken the U.S. by storm in the past year, the mechanics of the Yes/No trading necessarily exclude them from some popular gambling options like survivor pools. The partnership with Splash Sports allows Polymarket to bridge that gap, and the companies are charging out aggressively for the 2026 NFL season with the $21 million guarantee.
If that number looks suspiciously specific and un-rounded, that’s probably because it is. Circa Sports in Las Vegas operates the world’s biggest survivor pool.
Last year, Circa Survivor guaranteed $15 million for its $1,000 contest. The actual prize pool exceeded $18 million, and Circa has responded by upping the guarantee to $20 million for 2026.
Splash Sports and Polymarket are looking to pip Circa with a $21 million guarantee at the same $1,000 price point. Splash Sports touts the contest as available in 35 states, which should provide a significant competitive advantage against Circa.
Although Circa has operations outside of Las Vegas, contestants must nonetheless travel there to sign up. They can use proxies to enter their picks throughout the season, but the hoops involved still provide a barrier to entry for some who might theoretically play.
Canadians in most provinces can also access Splash’s survivor contest, providing even greater reach.
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