LeBron James is pushing back against a new sports betting startup that tried to tie his name and image to its brand without permission.
A spokesperson for James told Front Office Sports on Thursday that he sent a cease and desist letter to Bron, a company that bills itself as the “TikTok” for sports betting. The spokesperson made James’ position clear: “LeBron is in no way affiliated with this unauthorized use of his likeness.”
The letter says Bron’s use of James’ likeness is “especially serious and egregious” because of James’ exclusive endorsement deal with Polymarket. It also points to the company’s promotional trailer, which implies James bets on basketball - something that would run afoul of league rules.
James’ legal team, led by Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks PC, demanded that Bron stop using his likeness immediately. They also want the company to notify every person who used the app, in writing, that James has no involvement with it.
Bron, founded by Anish Gupta and Marc Zoghby in 2025, describes itself as a sports betting platform built around an algorithm that serves up curated wagers for users to scroll through. From there, users can choose bets and place them through the sportsbook or prediction market of their choice.
The company unveiled a 90-second teaser trailer on Wednesday, and it leaned heavily on AI-generated imagery. One of the clips showed James scrolling through his phone to look for players to bet on.
The name “Bron” was also pushed hard in the video, with AI-generated spectators asking where “Bron” was before a game. That connection to James - and the suggestion that he was betting on games - is what appears to have set off alarms for his legal team.
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