The NBA announced partnerships with Kalshi, Polymarket and DraftKings Predictions while signing a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission covering integrity in basketball event contracts.
The NBA is the fourth major U.S. professional sports league to partner with prediction markets, joining the MLB, MLS and NHL. It is also the first league to expand a sportsbook partnership into prediction markets, extending its agreement with DraftKings to include DraftKings Predictions.
NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross said the league held off on prediction market deals until it had the right regulatory framework in place.
“We were really just waiting for that moment where we felt like we had all of the proper pieces in place in order for us to get comfortable to move forward,” Kaufman-Ross told ESPN.
What the deal includes
Kalshi and Polymarket are now each a “Preferred Prediction Market Exchange of the NBA.” Both platforms receive official league data and intellectual property rights to use NBA marks and logos on their sites.
The NBA said the partnerships create an integrity framework that gives the league more influence over the markets offered and allows for information sharing.
According to a news post, Kalshi will use official NBA data distributed by Sportradar to operate and settle authorized NBA markets. Kalshi and the NBA will also set up direct channels to share integrity data, report suspicious trading and cooperate on investigations. The agreement restricts which markets can be offered and bars league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts.
Kalshi said the partnership builds on safeguards it already has in place:
- Market surveillance: Kalshi works with IC360 to detect suspicious activity and identify people who are prohibited from trading.
- Athlete and coach protection: A partnership with Signify helps Kalshi identify online abuse and threats, and it permanently closes the accounts of users responsible.
- Nationwide self-exclusion: Users can exclude themselves from Kalshi nationwide, and its integration with IC360’s SelfExclude program allows exclusion across participating platforms with one enrollment.
The release also pointed to a previous comment from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said it would be in the league’s best interest “to have a consistent policy nationally.”
“A national framework allows leagues, exchanges, and regulators to take a comprehensive view of market integrity and consumer protection, reducing the fragmentation that comes with navigating dozens of separate regulatory systems,” Kalshi’s post said.
Kalshi lost key Sixth and Ninth Circuit rulings that impacts Ohio, Tennessee, Nevada and three tribal lands in California. Other states such as Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Utah and Washington have won injunctions against Kalshi offering sports event contracts.
Expanding with DraftKings
DraftKings is already an official sports betting partner of the league. The partnership between the NBA and DraftKings has progressed into prediction markets.
“The agreement expands our ability to reach and engage eligible customers around NBA event contracts throughout the league ecosystem, complementing the continued expansion of DraftKings Predictions within our broader sports platform,” DraftKings said in an X post.
What the CFTC agreement covers
The NBA and the CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding intended to protect the integrity of professional basketball in prediction markets. Through the MOU, the two sides will share information by regularly communicating about integrity issues and maintaining fair and transparent markets.
“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,” CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in a release.
The MOU describes itself as a statement of intent and does not create any legally binding rights or obligations. Neither side is required to share information, and any sharing is at each party’s sole discretion. The agreement also does not change the CFTC’s ability to enforce the Commodity Exchange Act.
Information shared under the agreement is presumed confidential. The NBA can pass CFTC information to its Board of Governors, but not to teams without written approval from the CFTC. Both sides expect that approval would be given when the information relates to an active NBA integrity investigation.
Either side can end the agreement with 30 days’ written notice.
No opinion on regulation debate
The NBA is not interested in taking a side in determining how prediction markets should be regulated.
“We’ll let the courts decide,” Kaufman-Ross told ESPN. “The jurisdictional issue is not our issue. Our issue is the way that our game is impacted.”
The NFL, however, took a more aggressive approach, filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court earlier this month, arguing that sports event contracts should be under state jurisdiction.
The NFL remains the only major sport in the U.S. that is not partnered with a prediction market. Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC before the start of the season that the NFL is in no rush.
“We don’t feel like we have to be first in this,” Goodell said. “We feel like we’re going to be right, and the best thing to do is be patient.”
