NBA Signs CFTC Pact, Names Kalshi and Polymarket Partners

The National Basketball Association (NBA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on prediction markets on Oct. 26. The league also named Kalshi and Polymarket its "preferred prediction market exchanges." The NBA is the third league with such a pact, following MLB and the NHL.

Details

According to the CFTC release, the MOU covers information sharing and communication between the regulator and the league to protect the integrity of professional basketball in prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said such agreements continue the commission's commitment to data sharing between the agency and sports leagues.

Separately, the NBA announced terms for its commercial partners. Kalshi and Polymarket receive the league's intellectual property and marketing rights plus official data from Sportradar. In return the deals limit which markets may be listed, bar league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts, and require information sharing on investigations and suspicious trading. DraftKings' expanded agreement now includes prediction markets too. Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA's head of media distribution and partnerships, said protecting the integrity of the game is the league's top priority.

The Block notes that the NFL has declined to sign with the CFTC and presses for tougher state-level rules, arguing such contracts amount to gambling. The report also recalls past insider-trading cases on these platforms.

What this means for the market

The story matters to crypto because of Polymarket, which runs on a blockchain with stablecoin settlement; a deal with a top US league adds to its legitimacy. We covered the CFTC's recent proposal to treat event contracts as swaps separately. Polymarket's odds for tomorrow and the month are in the daily brief; related coin: USDC.