The NBA announced Monday that it is partnering with prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket, becoming the latest major U.S. sports league to team up with an industry that opponents say blurs the line between gambling and financial trading.
The league said the partnerships create an integrity framework, including greater influence over the markets offered, information sharing and a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator that oversees the prediction market industry. Kalshi and Polymarket will become the NBA's preferred prediction market platforms, gaining access to official league data and rights to use league marks and logos on their sites.
NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the league held off on commercial deals in the space until the right regulatory framework was 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," he said. The NBA follows the NHL and Major League Baseball, which previously entered similar partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket.
The move comes amid a wave of legal challenges over whether trading on sports falls under state gambling regulators or the federal government. New York, where the NBA is headquartered, is among the states suing prediction markets, alleging they offer illegal sports betting. New Jersey has referred the issue to the Supreme Court, which is expected to decide in the coming months whether to take up the case. Kaufman-Ross said the league will not weigh in on the jurisdictional question. "We'll let the courts decide," he said. "Our issue is the way that our game is impacted." The NBA also expanded its agreement with DraftKings to include the company's prediction market offering.
Source: ESPN NBA · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing