The National Basketball Association (NBA) has formalized partnerships with prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, designating them as the league’s preferred exchanges for NBA-related prediction markets. Announced on Monday, these agreements aim to enhance integrity protections surrounding betting and trading activities tied to NBA events.
Under the deals, Kalshi and Polymarket will be subject to limitations on the types of market offerings allowed, increased transparency regarding suspicious user behavior, and bans on league and team personnel engaging in related trades. These measures reflect the NBA’s ongoing efforts to regulate betting markets and maintain the integrity of its competitions. Similar protocols have long been in place with the league’s sportsbook partners, with the NBA citing previous instances where monitoring flagged irregular betting patterns.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA’s head of media distribution and partnerships, emphasized the league’s preference for regulated markets over unregulated ones, stating that transparency and regulatory oversight better protect the games and serve fan interests. “If you’re going to be betting on our games or trading on our games or playing fantasy around our games, it’s better for it to be regulated than unregulated,” he said. The NBA is also expanding agreements with sportsbooks like DraftKings to cover their prediction market products.
Kalshi and Polymarket, now able to represent themselves as the NBA’s preferred prediction market exchanges, will gain access to league intellectual property, including use of official logos and NBA statistical data provided by league partner Sportradar to operate and settle authorized markets. The agreements are reportedly multi-year, though financial details were not disclosed.
These moves follow the NBA’s announcement earlier this season restricting sportsbooks from offering bets on certain aspects of games, such as which player records the first statistic, the outcome of the opening tip, or propositions involving players unlikely to see significant playing time. Similar restrictions are expected to apply to prediction markets under the new partnerships.
The agreements also include a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has jurisdiction over prediction markets. This reflects a joint commitment to ensuring NBA-related prediction markets operate under appropriate regulatory oversight, especially as more than a dozen U.S. states engage in litigation over prediction market regulation. The NFL has recently sought a Supreme Court ruling on the matter, with the CFTC asserting federal jurisdiction while some states insist on regulatory authority.
Not all NBA players endorse prediction markets tied to basketball. While Miami’s Giannis Antetokounmpo has promoted Kalshi and Philadelphia’s LeBron James recently signed with Polymarket, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama has publicly declined to endorse such sites.
Overall, the NBA’s new agreements illustrate a strategic approach to partnering with and regulating prediction markets as their popularity grows, aiming to balance fan interest with the protection of competitive integrity.