Players are experiencing safety threats from ‘vitriol’ of prediction market users, 11x WNBA All-Star Nneka Ogwumike warns

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As prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are increasingly being used for sportsbetting, athletes are warning of the negative and even violent consequences of these platforms on players. At the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara, California on Tuesday, Nneka Ogwumike, former Los Angeles Sparks forward, 2016 MVP, and 11-time All-Star in the league, said prediction markets are having a clear adverse impact on WNBA players. “It’s not a safe place for athletes,” Ogwumike told Most Powerful Women editor Emma Hinchliffe. “I don’t think I ever want to say that something is outrightly bad unless it absolutely is, but players are definitely having a hard time dealing with the vitriol that comes with prediction markets as it relates to our performance.” Prediction markets have emerged as an alternative and supplement to online sportsbooks because they are classified as a financial exchange, rather than gambling platforms, allowing them to bypass regulations and…

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