NBA Taps Kalshi and Polymarket in Prediction Markets Deal With CFTC Safeguards

Key Takeaways:

• The NBA has decided Kalshi and Polymarket to be its preferred prediction market exchanges.
• The two platforms will be equipped with official NBA data via Sportradar.
• The league also inked a CFTC agreement that addressed issues of insider trading and market integrity.

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The NBA is moving deeper into prediction markets through new commercial deals with Kalshi and Polymarket, while adding tighter safeguards around sports-related event contracts.

The league also inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, establishing a new agreement on how information and integrity monitoring is shared.

The new deals make Kalshi and Polymarket the NBA’s top pick’s sportsbook exchanges.

Both systems will be granted NBA IP, marketing and promotional rights within the United States, as well as have access to official NBA data provided by Sportradar for approved NBA markets.

Agreements also include measures to combat market abuse. Trading of NBA event contracts is prohibited between NBA and NBA team personnel and the NBA and the NBA team must cooperate in investigations and suspicious trades.

The NBA told us that ensuring integrity of the game is always our No. 1 focus, as prediction markets grow in fan involvement.

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Access to official Sportradar data is a key part of the partnerships. Prediction markets rely on accurate event results on which to set their contracts. The agreement between Kalshi and Polymarket and the official NBA data feed reduces the chance of disputes about the results of basketball games, and provides a more uniform framework for accepted markets.

The league also extended an agreement with DraftKings to include prediction markets and promotion across the country. Additional operators will be added in the next few weeks.

The NBA’s different MOU with the CFTC centres on the exchange of information and the assurance of fair and transparent prediction markets.

The agreement will foster closer partnerships to combat abuses including insider trading and fraud, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said. With the NBA now following suit, the Major League Baseball and NHL have each signed similar agreements with the regulator.

The significance of the arrangement lies in the fact that the NBA will have private information that could impact the pricing of event contracts, such as players’ availability, injuries, internal NBA development or other private information.

These deals illustrate how prediction websites are increasingly gaining official sporting ground as opposed to just being a place to trade. Kalshi has already launched federally regulated event contracts in the U.S. and Polymarket has amassed a substantial audience on the crypto side of the prediction market.

The NBA’s actions put basketball contracts in a useful commercial and data environment. Also, the league is tightening up around who is allowed to trade and what suspicious activity is done.

Continued activity related to NBA event contracts is also evident in CFTC filings, such as certified binary products linked to specific games, as well as other basketball-related events.

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