The NFL sent a memo to clubs Thursday stating that proposition bets tied to officiating decisions, injuries or outcomes easily manipulated by one player are prohibited.
While the memo reads like a new NFL betting directive, most of the affected markets are not widely available today. The league has asked its sports betting partners to not offer injury-related props and officiating props for years and many states explicitly bar the categories addressed in the memo:
- Inherently objectionable markets: involving injuries, player safety, fan misconduct or other inflammatory subjects.
- Officiating-related bets: involving officiating assignments, penalties, replay outcomes or any market driven by officials’ decisions.
- Markets determinable by one person in one play: outcomes solely controlled by a single player on a single snap, such as: a Quarterback’s first pass: complete/incomplete, a Kicker to miss a field goal or extra point, Player to fumble (yes/no)
- Pre-determined outcomes: Events that can be decided before the game is played, including: Team’s first play: run or pass, Will [QB] start this week?
The update comes as scrutiny around sports betting and game integrity hits its highest level since the end of PASPA, fueled by a series of federal indictments and league-level reforms across other major sports.
NFL gets active after MLB betting changes
Major League Baseball this week capped all pitch-level micro-bets at $200 and banned them from being parlayed. The first-of-its-kind league directive followed a federal indictment that accused Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz of manipulating their pitches as part of a $450,000 betting scheme. Both players are in custody and have pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy.
MLB’s decision, along with a string of recent scandals across the NBA and NCAA, has accelerated broader conversations in Washington and within leagues about whether micro-bets and highly granular props inherently increase vulnerability to corruption.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver met with members of Congress in recent weeks to discuss the league’s own integrity infrastructure amid two federal cases involving Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and ex-Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones.
“Accordingly, we have actively engaged with both state lawmakers and regulators, as well as with our sports betting partners, to limit — and where possible prohibited altogether — prop bets in the NFL,” the league said in the memo to teams. “Our commercial agreements are regularly reviewed and updated to prohibit wagers that are tied to the kind of conduct that was identified in recent federal law enforcement activity, and we maintain regular contact with state officials to ensure that these wagers are appropriately addressed.”
The NFL has issued dozens of suspensions for gambling-policy violations in recent years, including the yearlong ban of then-Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley in 2022 and multiple suspensions ahead of the 2023 season. But none have involved allegations that a player manipulated their own performance to profit from bets.
NFL against predictions
The memo also includes a pointed line about “prediction markets,” stating that products such as Kalshi and Polymarket fall under prohibited gambling activity for league personnel.
That position mirrors public filings from MLB and the NBA earlier this year, when both leagues urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to restrict what prediction markets can list on sports. Both argued that, without limits, exchanges could eventually offer lines on injuries, officiating other events off-limits to regulated sportsbooks.
The memo closes by noting that the league conducts year-round monitoring, education and disciplinary activity and keeps open communication with state regulators, sportsbooks and the NFLPA.
