The NBA has entered the realm of prediction markets following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced in a release on Monday. Kalshi and Polymarket have been designated as the league's "Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges."
Maintaining integrity in NBA-related contract markets is a significant focus for the league, which commenced its 82nd season last week. The agreements with Kalshi and Polymarket incorporate "substantial integrity protections," which encompass restrictions on market types, bans on trading NBA event contracts by league and team personnel, and requirements for information sharing related to investigations and suspicious trading activity, as indicated in the NBA's announcement.
As preferred partners, Kalshi and Polymarket will gain access to NBA intellectual property, marketing rights in the United States, and official data feeds provided by Sportradar, the league's data distribution partner. The NBA also announced an expansion of its existing partnership with DraftKings to include prediction markets and nationwide promotional efforts. Additional partnerships with the league's other current sports betting partners are planned and should be revealed in the coming weeks.
These emerging partnerships are expected to introduce more prediction-related integrity measures that align with the NBA's latest policies on sports betting, a reference to the restrictions on betting markets the league detailed for its partners ahead of the season's start.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA's head of media distribution and partnerships, emphasized that safeguarding the league's integrity remains a "top priority." He noted that forging these prediction market partnerships and formalizing the MOU with the CFTC are essential steps toward "establishing a framework that creates new opportunities to engage our fans."
The NBA is among several major U.S. sports leagues to partner with prediction market operators recently. Polymarket counts Major League Baseball (MLB), the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Major League Soccer (MLS) among its collaborators, while both Kalshi and Polymarket have ties to the National Hockey League (NHL) and now the NBA. Monday also marked a rare occurrence known as a "sports equinox," where all four major leagues—NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL—were active on the same day.
Before the NBA's official announcement, several prominent players had already entered endorsement deals with the platforms. Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, announced a partnership with Kalshi in February. LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer and recognizable active player, featured in a star-studded Polymarket advertisement in September. James, now in his 24th season playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, holds the record for the most seasons played in NBA history.
Kalshi's head of sports partnerships, Adam Barrick, described the collaboration with the NBA as a "significant milestone," committing to ensuring the prediction markets are "fair, safe, and open." Ari Borod, Polymarket's president of sports business development, expressed eagerness to work with the NBA to build a "safe, transparent prediction market ecosystem for everyone."
Both leaders have backgrounds in the sports betting industry, with Barrick having spent over six years at DraftKings and Borod's experience including roles at FanDuel, Action Network, and Fanatics.
The MOU itself spans five pages, outlining a working relationship and primarily detailing information sharing between the NBA and CFTC. While it emphasizes a commitment to "discuss, cooperate, and exchange information on shared issues of interest," it is not legally binding and does not obligate either party to provide or share information. Data sharing, if it occurs, will be at the "sole discretion" of each entity.
Anticipated cooperation is expected to occur via informal consultations, periodic meetings, written requests as necessary, and other practical arrangements that may be devised. Points of contact for the agreement include CFTC General Counsel Tyle Badgley and NBA Executive Vice President Dan Spillane.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig characterized the MOU as a "responsible step toward protecting sports integrity and market participants from abuses in prediction markets, such as insider trading and fraud." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver did not provide any quotes in the statements issued on Monday.
Silver has been known for promoting legal sports betting since 2014, well before it became legal in many states. However, he has voiced frustration with the current system of state-by-state regulation, which complicates the process of sharing information and conducting investigations.
The NBA has faced several gambling-related scandals, including the lifetime ban of former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for gambling offenses in 2024. Others, like Terry Rozier and Malik Beasley, are also dealing with legal challenges, with integrity monitors discovering the violations alongside various state regulators.
To address these integrity concerns, the NBA has prohibited its sports betting partners from offering certain markets this season. Notable restrictions include disallowing bets on specific tips, prop bets on players expected to play less than 12 minutes, and other market types. The league holds the authority to limit what markets its betting partners can provide, a power that extends to the new prediction market agreements, as stated by security consultant Matthew Wein.
During the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this summer, Silver remarked to iGB that the league has "remarkably little control" over its intellectual property, a situation that the new partnerships and MOU aim to address. He also expressed the need for a federal-level regulator to facilitate integrity matters, viewing it as beneficial for the league.
Ironically, the CFTC functions as a federal regulator, with Selig being the only currently sitting commissioner. Concerns remain regarding the agency's ability to oversee prediction markets effectively, given its focus on the extensive derivative and swap markets as well.
Matt Rybaltowski contributed to this article.
