Polymarket Hires Ex-Fanatics CBO Borod After Legal Battle

Polymarket has appointed Ari Borod as president of sports business development, confirming a hire that triggered a Florida lawsuit, a legal settlement, and unsealed court filings that exposed rival executives’ personal investments in Kalshi.

From Fanatics CBO to Polymarket

Borod joined Fanatics in July 2021 as chief commercial officer of its online betting division before being promoted to chief business officer in 2022. Over four and a half years, he oversaw business development alongside legal, regulatory, and government affairs as Fanatics pushed into sports wagering and prediction markets. Before Fanatics, he held senior roles at FanDuel and the Action Network.

He told Fanatics in December 2025 that he intended to leave. He offered to stay on to ensure a smooth transition. Fanatics refused and threatened that “the entire weight of Fanatics would be brought against him” if he proceeded. He started at Polymarket on January 2, 2026. Fanatics filed suit in the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Duval County, Florida, on January 12, arguing Borod was bound by a one-year non-compete. Borod disputed the claim outright, stating his contract contained no such provision. The two sides settled out of court on February 2. Polymarket confirmed the appointment on February 19.

“Thrilled to share that I’ve officially joined Polymarket as President of Sports Business Development. As Polymarket continues to expand its global footprint, the mandate is clear: build partnerships that help bring prediction markets to the center of how fans experience the game. Scaling this category the right way is just as important as scaling it quickly. Excited to partner with Shayne Coplan and the team to help drive the next phase of growth.” — Ari Borod, LinkedIn

Unsealed Filings Reveal Wider Industry Tensions

The settlement cleared Borod to take the role, but the now-unsealed court documents contain disclosures that go well beyond the dispute itself. In his January 29 response filing, Borod alleged that Fanatics founder Michael Rubin and Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King had personally invested in Kalshi — a direct Polymarket competitor — before Fanatics launched its own prediction markets product in December 2025. Kalshi and Fanatics declined to comment on the allegation. Rubin has publicly described Kalshi’s CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan as “studs,” while stating his belief that sportsbooks will ultimately win out in prediction markets.

Fanatics also alleged in its filing that Borod had led efforts to pursue relationships between Polymarket and major sports leagues including the NBA and MLB. Borod denied leading those efforts, though he acknowledged participating in high-level discussions about a potential DCM exchange acquisition being explored by Fanatics leadership. He said he was not aware of the financial terms and did not know the name of the target firm.

The dispute carries an irony that has not gone unnoticed. Fanatics was itself a defendant in a non-compete case in 2024 when DraftKings sued after Fanatics hired Michael Hermalyn, then DraftKings’ SVP of growth, as head of VIP. The legal mechanics used against Borod mirror those DraftKings deployed against Fanatics.

Sports at the Centre of the Prediction Market Landgrab

The hire signals where Polymarket sees its growth path in the US. Sports currently accounts for 38% of Polymarket’s total trading volume. Its US app, launched last year, offers only sports event contracts and sits in the sports section of the App Store. Borod, who helped build Fanatics’ sports wagering infrastructure and brokered its partnership with Crypto.com, brings direct operator-side experience to a platform that is increasingly competing for the same user base as regulated sportsbooks.

The appointment is the highest-profile executive move from a traditional online sportsbook to a prediction market platform to date. Borod argued in his court filing that Fanatics and Polymarket are not direct competitors — Fanatics operates as an Introducing Broker while Polymarket is a Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organisation — though that distinction remains contested. A California lawsuit filed the same week alleges Polymarket functions as a betting house, setting lines, booking bets, and paying out winners, which the plaintiff claims constitutes illegal sports wagering.

Polymarket has also separately acquired Dome, a prediction markets API startup from Y Combinator’s Fall 2025 cohort, and has been recruiting sports traders to build an in-house trading operation. Borod’s mandate is to build the partnership infrastructure around those products. The scope of what he can bring from Fanatics, and what the settlement restricts, has not been disclosed.

For more on related regulatory developments, see the Nevada court restraining order against Polymarket and the broader DraftKings–Crypto.com prediction markets expansion.

Source: Front Office Sports, SBC Americas, ReadWrite