NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the league will continue to treat prediction markets as if they were sports betting in terms of what players can and can’t do.
Silver addressed prediction markets during NBA All-Star weekend after one of the NBA’s biggest stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo, announced he was entering the space as an investor and partner of Kalshi. Earlier this month, the 10-time NBA All-Star became a partner and shareholder in Kalshi through his family business Ante, Inc., while sports event contracts continue to face legal and regulatory pushback.
No problem with Giannis’ Kalshi deal
The NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement lays out explicit rules regarding gambling and partnerships between companies and players. The NBA prevents players, coaches and team officials from gambling on any event associated with the league and the CBA requires players and coaches with ties to gambling companies to only be featured in general marketing and not included in any NBA-related contest or event.
The CBA also allows players to hold controlling interests in gambling brands that offers NBA markets, as long as their shareholding is less than 1%.
“We have a rule that was collectively bargained with the players’ association that players can make, I will call them, de minimis investments in sports betting companies,” said Silver during a press conference for NBA All-Star weekend. “We’re applying the same rule to prediction markets.
“In the case of Giannis, from what I understand, it’s a minuscule investment, much smaller than 1%. So that does not violate the rules that have been collectively bargained with the players’ association.”
Silver notes prediction market space is ‘rapidly evolving’
Silver also noted the dynamic nature of the prediction market space. Numerous sportsbooks have expanded into offering sports contracts as both prediction market platforms and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continue to maintain that the federal agency’s authority over event contracts supersedes states’ right to regulate gaming.
“We currently are looking at prediction markets essentially in the same way that we’re looking at sports betting markets or sports betting companies,” Silver continued on Saturday. “It’s rapidly evolving. Prediction markets have now come on the scene fairly recently as — I don’t know how else to say it — major sports betting marketplaces.
“Whether prediction markets are allowed to go forward in the form they’re in now will, I think, be ultimately an issue for the courts and for Congress.”
This week, CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency filed an amicus brief in support of Crypto.com and its sports event contracts as the agency reaffirms that the Commodity Exchange Act provides the commission with authority to regulate event contracts. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Selig reiterated that the agency will craft new rules that adhere to sports event contracts offered by prediction markets across the U.S.
Meanwhile, Silver will continue to discuss prediction markets and their relationship with the NBA after holding a panel this weekend on prediction markets during the league’s tech summit. The panel included Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan.
The NBA has so far struck a cautious tone on prediction markets. In contrast, the NHL entered partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket last October and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suggested last week that he is open to working with such platforms.
