The National Basketball Association has named Kalshi and Polymarket its preferred prediction-market exchanges, placing two prominent event-contract platforms inside a new league framework for authorized basketball markets. The NBA announced the agreements on October 26 alongside a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The arrangement combines commercial rights with controls intended to address integrity risks as prediction markets expand their presence in U.S. sports.

What the agreements cover

The league said the Kalshi and Polymarket partnerships limit which NBA-related markets may be offered, prohibit league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts, and require information sharing related to investigations and suspicious trading. Associated Press reported that the commercial agreements are multiyear deals and that the NBA will have approval rights over the types of markets available on its games. Financial terms were not disclosed. The restrictions are important because some event contracts may turn on information known first to players, coaches, officials or team employees. The release describes safeguards at the league and operator level; it does not say every contract will be approved automatically.

Related reporting: NFL Urges Supreme Court Review of Sports Prediction-Market Rules

Official data and commercial rights

Kalshi and Polymarket will be able to use NBA intellectual property and receive marketing and promotional rights in the United States. They will also receive official NBA data through Sportradar, the league's data-distribution partner, to operate and settle authorized markets. Official data can give an exchange a consistent reference for determining contract outcomes, but it does not remove the need for clear market rules or surveillance. The NBA separately expanded its DraftKings agreement to include prediction markets and nationwide promotion, and said other authorized-operator relationships may follow. Those arrangements will carry enhanced integrity obligations and restrictions aligned with the league's latest sports-betting rules.

A regulatory cooperation channel

The NBA's memorandum with the CFTC focuses on cooperation and information sharing concerning NBA prediction markets. Reuters reported that the document was signed by CFTC Chairman Michael Selig and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and covers information that could directly affect the integrity of professional basketball. The memorandum does not resolve the wider jurisdictional dispute surrounding sports event contracts. The CFTC maintains that the contracts are federally regulated financial instruments, while several states have argued that sports-related offerings fall under state gambling laws.

Why integrity controls matter

Prediction-market operators allow participants to trade contracts whose value depends on a defined outcome. Sports contracts can create particular monitoring challenges when injuries, lineup decisions, officiating or internal personnel decisions may move prices before information becomes public. The NBA's approach is to establish direct data and investigation channels while retaining influence over market design. That model resembles controls used with sportsbook partners, but it is being applied to exchanges that describe their products as event contracts rather than wagers.

What remains open

The announcement does not list every authorized or prohibited contract, disclose partnership economics, or settle how federal and state oversight will develop. It does establish a clearer operating structure: selected exchanges get official data and league rights, while accepting personnel bans, market limits and information-sharing duties. The effectiveness of the framework will depend on the specific markets approved, how quickly suspicious activity is escalated, and how regulators and courts define the boundaries of sports-related prediction contracts.

Sources

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