NBA establishes prediction market framework with CFTC, Kalshi and Polymarket
The league designated Kalshi and Polymarket as its preferred exchanges and signed an integrity agreement with the CFTC.
The National Basketball Association has created a formal structure for prediction markets related to its games. The league named Kalshi and Polymarket as its preferred prediction market exchanges and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These agreements include new integrity safeguards and provide the platforms with official NBA data and marketing rights. The NBA also broadened its current partnership with DraftKings to cover prediction markets and nationwide promotion.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA's Head of Media Distribution and Partnerships, said integrity is the league's main concern. "Protecting the integrity of the game is our top priority," Kaufman-Ross said. "As this category develops, we believe it is important to work constructively with regulators and operators to help ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place." The new framework restricts which markets can be offered and bans league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts. It also mandates information sharing on investigations and suspicious trading activity.
Kalshi and Polymarket will gain rights to use NBA intellectual property and conduct promotional activities in the United States. Both platforms will receive official league data from Sportradar to operate and settle authorized markets. The CFTC's memorandum of understanding with the NBA sets up cooperation and regular communication on maintaining fair prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the agreement continues the commission's commitment to data sharing with professional sports leagues. "The NBA joins the MLB and NHL in taking a responsible step toward protecting sports integrity and market participants from abuses in prediction markets like insider trading and fraud," Selig said in a statement. The league plans to offer similar arrangements to its other official sports betting partners and other companies in the sector in the coming weeks. All future authorized operator deals will include enhanced integrity obligations aligned with the NBA's latest sports betting policies.
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Adam Barrick, Head of Sports Partnerships at Kalshi, called the partnership a significant milestone that reflects a shared focus on fan engagement and safety. Ari Borod, President of Sports Business Development at Polymarket, said the deal will let customers engage more deeply with basketball on their platform. The announcement occurs as courts debate whether states or the federal government should regulate event contracts on prediction platforms. The National Football League has argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that these contracts are gambling and should be overseen by states.
Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the NBA does not plan to intervene in that potential Supreme Court case. He confirmed the league's contracts with Kalshi and Polymarket account for the chance that sports-event contracts might become unavailable. "The jurisdictional issue is not our issue; our issue is the way that our game is impacted," Kaufman-Ross said. The financial terms of the multi-year deals with Kalshi and Polymarket were not disclosed. Kaufman-Ross told The Associated Press the league has approval over which types of markets are listed for its games.