NBA Names Kalshi, Polymarket Preferred Prediction-Market Exchanges, Signs CFTC Pact

The NBA announced on October 26, 2026 that it has named Kalshi and Polymarket its Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges and signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission covering oversight of NBA-linked prediction markets. The league becomes the third major U.S. sports organization to sign this kind of pact with the CFTC.

Under the new integrity framework, the NBA sets limits on which event contracts can be listed, bars league and team personnel from trading NBA-linked contracts, and requires authorized exchanges to share information about investigations and suspicious trading activity. In exchange for those commitments, Kalshi and Polymarket each get rights to use NBA intellectual property, marketing and promotional access across the league's media channels, and official game data from Sportradar, the NBA's data distribution partner, to run and settle their markets. Kalshi's Adam Barrick called the deal "a significant milestone," while Polymarket's Ari Borod said it would let customers "engage more deeply" with the sport.

The NBA also expanded its existing partnership with DraftKings to cover prediction markets and said it plans to add more operators in the coming weeks. The announcement lands in the middle of a tense legal fight over whether these contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting: Ohio has threatened to sue Kalshi and Polymarket over similar contracts, and New Jersey has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the underlying jurisdiction question. A major league signing commercial deals with the same platforms several state regulators are trying to rein in is a sign of how unsettled - and how valuable - this market still is.

Prediction markets aren't a sweepstakes-casino product, but they're fast becoming the industry's closest competitor for the same casual, app-based betting dollar, and the regulatory question they're fighting over - whether these are genuine financial derivatives or sports betting wearing a different label - echoes the fight sweepstakes operators have been having with state regulators for two years now.