KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The NBA announced partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket, an MOU with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and an extension of its sports betting deal with DraftKings to cover sports trading.
- The parties cited a desire to ensure sporting and trading integrity, and the league will also replicate its sports betting restrictions for sports prediction markets.
- The NBA follows MLB and the NHL in working together with prediction markets operators and the CFTC, while the NFL remains a cautious holdout.
The NBA stepped firmly into the world of prediction markets on Monday.
One week into the 2026-27 season, the league unveiled multiple partnerships and agreements on Oct. 26, including:
- Official deals to make Kalshi and Polymarket “preferred prediction market exchanges” of the league
- An expansion of its existing agreement with DraftKings to include sports event contracts nationwide
- A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
The moves make the NBA the latest major professional sports league to collaborate with prediction market sites and the federal agency. The CFTC already has similar MOUs with the NHL and MLB, and teams from both of those leagues have signed official deals with sports event contract operators.
The NBA said that it plans to expand its relationship with its other official sports betting partners, which include FanDuel, as well as others in the prediction markets industry in the coming weeks. Front Office Sports reported that the league is expected to make Novig an authorized prediction market partner in the coming days.
Integrity at heart of NBA, CFTC announcements
The NBA and the CFTC said they will work together to establish “a comprehensive framework for NBA-related prediction markets,” with core focuses on cooperation and information sharing related to event contracts on the league and its games.
The league added that the collaboration is indicative of a shared commitment to ensuring that NBA-related prediction markets are subject to “appropriate regulatory oversight and integrity protections.”
“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,” said CFTC Chairman Michael Selig. “I thank NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for putting the integrity of professional basketball and America’s financial markets first and for working with the CFTC on this MOU.”
NBA Head of Media Distribution and Partnerships Scott Kaufman-Ross added that the league understands that it is important to work constructively with regulators and operators as the sports prediction markets category continues to expand in size and scope.
“Protecting the integrity of the game is our top priority,” said Kaufman-Ross. “These partnerships represent an important step in establishing a framework that creates new opportunities to engage our fans.”
NBA will extend betting market restrictions to prediction markets
The league said that its work with Kalshi and Polymarket will ensure that the partners put in place significant integrity protections for NBA-related markets, including things such as:
- Limitations on which markets are allowed
- Firm prohibitions to stop league and team personnel trading on NBA contracts
- Information-sharing obligations relating to investigations and suspicious trading
Earlier in October, the NBA agreed with its sportsbook partners on betting guidance including prohibiting sportsbook partners from allowing users to combine ‘under’ bets on the same player’s statistics in a parlay, as well as expanding limits on other markets deemed particularly susceptible to manipulation or likely to incite harassment of athletes.
An NBA spokesperson confirmed to SBC Americas on Monday that similar restrictions will be imposed on its new prediction market partners.
Like MLB and NHL, NBA pursues prediction markets controls
The public reasoning for partnering with prediction markets and the CFTC is similar to the motivations cited by MLB and the NHL after those leagues struck their respective deals with the federal commission and individual companies.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in March its agreements with the CFTC and Polymarket are “imperative steps in proactively managing” the growing prediction markets space.
In May, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that working with the CFTC and both Kalshi and Polymarket strengthens the league’s ability to identify and address potential risks and gives it more control over which markets are and are not listed on exchanges.
Kalshi and Polymarket get access to NBA IP
Meanwhile, for Kalshi and Polymarket, attaining status as preferred prediction market exchanges gives each company the rights to use NBA intellectual property, including the use of league and team names and logos on their trading platforms.
Each operator also receives marketing rights and promotional activations across media channels in the U.S.
The two operators also get official NBA data from Sportradar, which is the league’s official data distribution partner, which they can use to operate and settle authorized related markets. Sportradar also has individual partnerships with both Kalshi and Polymarket.
“Sportradar is proud to support the NBA’s entry into prediction markets as the league’s exclusive data provider, said Sportradar’s Director of Communications Alex Sklitsis in a statement provided to SBC Americas. “Through our existing partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket,
official NBA data will now power both platforms.”
A post on Kalshi’s website added that access to Sportradar’s data “connects our markets directly to the league’s official record, giving participants an authoritative source for determining outcomes.”
NBA gives DraftKings nationwide amplification
In addition to the new partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket, the NBA expanded its existing sports betting marketing partnership with DraftKings to include prediction markets and nationwide promotion. DraftKings’ official status now includes “authorized prediction market operator” of the league.
These days, DraftKings offers its product suite in one unified “super app” wherein the availability of verticals like online sports betting, online casino, and sports event contracts depends on the user’s location. DraftKings ramped up its nationwide advertising of the app in recent months, prominently marketing its sports offering in high-population states like California, Texas, and Florida, where it cannot offer state-regulated sports betting.
As NBA moves onto court, NFL remains on sidelines
The announcements mark the NBA’s first move into working with prediction markets, although star players including LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have already established ties to the industry. James and Antetokounmpo have existing commercial deals with Polymarket and Kalshi, respectively.
The deals also come after the league announced shortly before the start of the season that it collaborated with the WNBA and the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) on a new responsible gambling campaign that encompasses both sports betting and sports event contract trading.
As well as MLB and the NHL, the NBA follows the likes of the ATP Tour, Major League Soccer, the US Open, and the UFC in signing deals with event contract platforms.
Every major U.S. sports league now has some form of commercial deal with the prediction markets industry except the NFL. The football league urged the Supreme Court earlier this month to take up the case and decide the legality of sports event contracts, stating that it believes that prediction markets should be regulated by states rather than at the federal level.
