Sports Business Development Lead

Job description

ABOUT POLYMARKET Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market platform. We enable individuals to express views on real-world events by trading on outcomes across politics, economics, sports, culture, and current affairs. Built as a peer-to-peer marketplace with no centralized "house," Polymarket aggregates diverse opinions into transparent, market-based probabilities that reflect collective expectations about the future. We're growing fast, both in terms of volume ($21B traded in 2025) and adoption as an alternative news source. Our ambition is to become a ubiquitous beacon of truth in global media and we need your help adding fuel to the fire. ABOUT THE ROLE Sports is one of the highest-frequency, highest-engagement verticals on Polymarket. Fans, bettors, and data nerds already use our markets to express opinions on outcomes that matter to them. The opportunity now is to scale that through the right partners: third-party apps, data providers, and distribution channels that can put Polymarket in front of sports audiences we haven't reached yet. This is a senior individual contributor role on the BD team. You'll own the sports channel end to end, from sourcing new ISV and IB partners to negotiating terms to managing the relationships once they're live. There's no hand-holding here. You'll be expected to move quickly, make good judgment calls independently, and build a repeatable motion that the team can grow from. The right person for this role already knows the sports ecosystem well enough to get a meeting without a cold email. If you've spent years building relationships with sports gambling, sports fantasy, and DFS Pick'em partners and have closed deals that actually moved volume, this is the role for you. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Source and qualify new sports partners across ISVs, IBs, and third-party app ecosystems, prioritizing deals that can drive meaningful distribution or downstream trading volume. - Own the full deal cycle from first conversation to signed agreement, managing commercial terms, legal review, and internal stakeholder alignment along the way. - Negotiate partnership contracts directly, knowing when to push, when to compromise, and when to walk away. - Manage active sports channel relationships post-close, including governance, performance reporting, and ongoing partner health. - Build outreach frameworks and partnership playbooks that document what works so future hires can replicate the motion without starting from scratch. - Work closely with product and operations to ensure partners have what they need to integrate and perform. - Represent Polymarket at relevant sports industry events and in the rooms where the right relationships get made. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Proven BD or partnerships experience in the sports industry, specifically working with leagues, teams, sports data providers, or media partners. - Track record of managing the full deal cycle independently, from sourcing through close, without needing a manager in every negotiation. - An existing warm network in the sports tech or data ecosystem. You can get a meeting with a decision-maker at a data provider or sports app without cold outreach. - Experience closing deals with ISVs, IBs, or similar third-party distribution partners where you can point to measurable downstream results. - Comfort owning channel governance and reporting once deals are live, not just handing off to account management. - Strong commercial instincts. You understand deal economics, can draft term sheets, and know how to get to yes without giving away the store. - Based in or willing to work from our NYC office. - (Plus) You've built a BD function or partnership playbook from scratch and have something to show for it. BENEFITS - Competitive salary & equity - Unlimited PTO - Full Health, Vision, & Dental coverage - 401k match - Hardware setup: new MacBook Pro, big display, & accessories