Critics are calling out Polymarket after it promoted bets on whether or not Women’s pro basketball games will be interrupted by someone in the crowd throwing a dildo onto the court.
“Announcing: Dildo dailies,” the Polymarket Sports X account posted on Wednesday. “You can now bet on which day(s) dildos will hit the WNBA court.”
So far, bettors have traded almost $500,000 worth of bets on which games will be interrupted by sex toys being hurdled at the female athletes, even going as far as to bet on the colour of the martial aids.
Yet many were not enthused by the new opportunity.
“This is so disrespectful to the women professionals who play in the WNBA,” one person said in response to the post. “Imagine this was your daughter or sister and they played in the WNBA and this was being done at their games.”
“This type of stuff literally incentivises people to throw dildos onto the court,” said another.
Viral trend
It comes after a man was arrested at a Phoenix Mercury game on August 5 after throwing a dildo towards the court, allegedly hitting a man and his nine-year-old niece.
It’s the second arrest since July 29, when a sex toy was first thrown onto the court during a Women’s National Basketball Association game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream.
The promotion of betting surrounding the sexist trend could encourage even more copycat incidents, critics say.
Both arrested alleged dildo throwers said they pulled the stunts in an attempt to go viral on social media.
Polymarket declined a request for comment.
To be sure, Polymarket isn’t the only platform letting users bet on WNBA games being disrupted by sex toys.
BetOnline, an online gambling firm that was among the first to let gamblers bet with Bitcoin in its online poker rooms, also offers a range of similar dildo-based bets.
More controversy
Polymarket jumping on the dildo throwing trend also feeds into claims that crypto has a misogyny problem.
A 2024 report from Association for Women in Cryptocurrency found that 82% of approximately 400 women surveyed believed the industry is not free from harassment.
Multiple women have spoken out about alleged sexual misconduct and said the crypto industry suffers from a culture of sexism.
It’s also another setback for Polymarket, which has been hit by several controversies in recent months.
In June, bettors came to blows over the disputed outcome of a betting market that asked if Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky had worn a suit.
In January, the betting platform faced backlash after it let users gamble on the level of destruction wrought by the California wildfires.
Running interference
In addition to disrespecting players, some have pointed out that the dildo-throwing markets could easily be manipulated.
“What would stop someone from making a bet then going to a game to throw said dildo on the court for the win?” one onlooker pointed out.
“We’re entering the stage where prediction market bettors don’t just predict outcomes, they interfere to make them happen,” John Wang, a crypto founder, said on X.
The activity echoes previous viral crypto trends that have encouraged and rewarded reckless and outrageous behaviour.
In November, a middle-school student went viral after netting $30,000 from a memecoin “rugpull” on pump.fun and raising his middle fingers to those he had just burned.
The same month, a man livestreaming on Pump.fun faked his suicide in an attempt to promote his memecoin.
