NBA Names Kalshi, Polymarket Preferred Exchanges — SkimNews
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- NBA struck multi-year deals with Kalshi and Polymarket as its preferred prediction market exchanges, announced Monday alongside a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC; the terms of the exchange agreements were not disclosed.
- Kalshi and Polymarket can now use league intellectual property such as logos, obtain NBA statistical data from Sportradar to operate and settle authorized NBA-related markets, and receive other marketing activations under the preferred-exchange designation.
- NBA said it will have the right to approve which types of markets are offered on its games, mirroring restrictions it told sportsbooks this season — no wagers on who records the game's first stat, the opening tip, or the "under" for players not expected to play more than a few minutes.
- CFTC contends it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets while some states argue oversight should be theirs, with more than a dozen states now in litigation; earlier this month the NFL asked the Supreme Court to rule on the regulation of such markets.
- DraftKings and other official sports betting partners are being brought into the framework, with the NBA expanding their agreements to cover their prediction-market offerings; prediction markets are available in all 50 states even where legalized sports betting is not.
- Victor Wembanyama said he will never endorse such sites, a contrast to Giannis Antetokounmpo's promotion of Kalshi and LeBron James's recent deal with Polymarket.
- Scott Kaufman-Ross said the NBA's sportsbook guardrails have already flagged irregularities in betting patterns, arguing monitored, regulated markets are better for fans who bet, trade or play fantasy on games.
Why it matters: DraftKings and other books now sit inside the same league framework as Kalshi and Polymarket, while the NBA secures approval rights over which game markets can be traded — a limit it already told books to enforce this season. The CFTC-state jurisdictional fight, with more than a dozen states in litigation, stays unresolved.
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