The NBA announced partnerships with prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, naming both as its preferred platforms and granting them access to official league data and intellectual property rights.
The agreements include an integrity framework covering information sharing and a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator overseeing prediction markets.
The NBA follows the NHL and Major League Baseball, which previously partnered with the platforms, amid ongoing legal challenges over whether sports-related prediction markets fall under federal financial regulation or state gambling laws.
Under the deal, Kalshi and Polymarket gain access to official NBA data and the right to use the league’s marks and logos on their sites.
The NBA said the partnerships create an integrity framework that gives it greater influence over the markets offered, along with information sharing and a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator that oversees the industry.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, NBA EVP, said: “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.”
The agreements arrive as prediction markets face legal challenges over whether sports trading falls under state gambling regulators or the federal government.
New York, where the NBA is headquartered, is among the states suing the platforms and alleging 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 the case.
Kaufman-Ross said: “We’ll let the courts decide. The jurisdictional issue is not our issue. Our issue is the way that our game is impacted.”
He added that the league’s contracts with Kalshi and Polymarket address a scenario in which the platforms can no longer offer sports markets. Kaufman-Ross said: “It’s certainly something we’ve contemplated.”
The NBA also recently expanded its existing agreement with DraftKings to cover the company’s prediction market offering
