Ronald Acuña Jr. is going home and going home with some backlash at that.
The Atlanta Braves star Acuña has partnered with online prediction market Kalshi, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported on Wednesday. Acuña is now officially the first MLB player to promote prediction markets.
Baggarly further adds that Acuña’s first commercial for Kalshi aired on Wednesday night during the Braves’ NLDS Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. You can read Baggarly’s full report on the situation here.
Prediction markets are quickly taking hold in the sports world, and several famous athletes (active and retired) have already entered into promotional relationships with them. But the public outcry against such partnerships has also arrived just as quickly, most notably with NBA star Victor Wembanyama recently taking a strong public stance against betting sponsorships.
The former NL MVP Acuña, 28, is not quite Kalshi’s first get in the baseball world as they already have existing partnerships with five MLB teams (the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, and Acuña’s own Braves). But with the news of Acuña’s player partnership with Kalshi, other baseball stars could quickly follow suit by entering into the prediction market world as well.
Of course, the bigger problem for Acuña right now is on the field. The Braves were just eliminated by the Dodgers on Wednesday with a 4-1 loss, and Acuña, who hit just .255 with 20 home runs and 55 RBIs this season, is not expected to last much longer in Atlanta beyond his final contract year in 2028.
