America’s professional women’s basketball league, the WNBA, has faced some unsettling disruptions recently. During games, unwanted items have been thrown onto the court. This has sparked a wave of strong reactions about player safety and respect for women’s sports.
What started as odd pranks has drawn sharp condemnation. Players, coaches, and the league itself have called these acts misogynistic and dangerous. Now, this strange situation has taken an even weirder turn. It has become a subject of bets on Polymarket, a prediction platform that runs on cryptocurrency. Users are putting down big money to guess if more incidents will happen.
Unwanted Objects on WNBA Courts
Since late July, at least six incidents have occurred. Sex toys, mostly neon green dildos, have landed on WNBA courts during games. The first report came during a matchup between the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream. A fan threw an object onto the playing field, stopping the game.
Similar events have followed in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York. On August 5, during an Indiana Fever versus Los Angeles Sparks game, a sex toy landed near player Sophie Cunningham. She had already warned on social media that such acts were dangerous. She famously said, “they are going to hurt someone.”
In Phoenix, an 18-year-old man was arrested after throwing a toy. It hit a spectator and their nine-year-old niece. In Atlanta, another person faced charges for disorderly conduct and indecent exposure after a similar event. The WNBA has responded firmly. They state that safety is their top goal. Anyone throwing objects will get at least a one-year ban and might face legal charges.
Players have voiced their anger. Elizabeth Williams of Chicago Sky called the acts “highly disrespectful.” Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts described them as “ridiculous, stupid, and dangerous.” Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve also spoke out. She said these incidents sexualize women and are not funny. The American Gaming Association called the events “deeply problematic.”
Polymarket Users Bet on the Controversy
As this controversy brewed, Polymarket users saw a chance to profit. They began listing betting contracts tied to these incidents. It’s a strange move, turning a serious safety issue into a market.
Right now, Polymarket has at least four active markets on this topic. You can bet on whether a sex toy will be thrown in a specific game. Other bets cover when it will happen or even what color the object will be. One of these contracts became very popular. It gathered over $300,000 in bets. Sometimes, its betting volume topped that of actual WNBA game results.
The surge in these bets has drawn strong criticism. Some argue that Polymarket is encouraging disruptive behavior. Users can profit financially as incidents keep happening.
“BANGGGGG! A third dildo has hit the WNBA to cash out everybody on https://t.co/Oey7s7d11s,” the platform wrote on X last Tuesday. This happened after a sex toy landed on the court during an Indiana Fever vs. Sparks game.
BANGGGGG
A third dildo has hit the WNBA to cash out everybody on https://t.co/Oey7s7d11s pic.twitter.com/XSHRIZkQ4
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport)
A user named “gigachadsolana” made $6,000. They had bet that a sex toy would be thrown during that basketball game, according to the Polymarket team.
DILDO Memecoin Surges Over 300%
Beyond crypto bets, this event also sparked a new memecoin. It is called Green Dildo Coin (DILDO). By Saturday, it had jumped over 40% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
An anonymous spokesperson spoke to USA TODAY. They said the group launched the coin on July 28. It was a protest against toxicity in the crypto world. They used the green toys to represent “green candles” on trading charts. The group denies any link to those arrested. They say their actions are “mockery” meant to create viral attention without harming anyone. Meanwhile, their DILDO token grew by 350% in a week.
These incidents have fueled talks about sexism in women’s sports. The controversy has also become a high-stakes topic in the crypto world. It shows how the unpredictable nature of digital assets can intersect with very real-world events.