The NBA wants access to predictive market data to regulate and detect insider trading, Commissioner Adam Silver told CNBC on Friday.
“Whether it’s called prediction markets or whether it’s sports betting, it’s the same issue for our league, and I think for all leagues, it’s first and foremost an integrity issue,” Silver told Contessa Brewer in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We want access to that data. We also want control of the market.”
Silver said it’s a “bizarre practice” to have a contract tied to whether a coach is fired, for example.
His comments came after the NFL filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on Thursday, which sided with New Jersey regulators and argued that prediction market sports contracts constitute gambling and not financial swaps. The latter is regulated at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The brief also cited concerns about market manipulation regarding player injury and performance-related contracts.
The NFL requires a minimum age of 21 for traders, which is the age some states have as a standard for sportsbooks. Silver agreed with the age limit, but instead supported federal authority over prediction market platforms.
“Frankly, at least from an NBA perspective, we have about 40 different jurisdictions regulating us right now. So I think it’s in our best interest to have a consistent policy nationally,” he said.
The move from the National Football League comes amid a recent surge in contract volume on the NFL prediction market, with the season starting a month early. The brief was also filed after multiple courts ruled in favor of states that oversee prediction market exchanges on behalf of the CFTC.
Last week, Prediction Markets received a favorable ruling in Illinois blocking enforcement of gambling laws on Calci and Coinbase’s event contracts. Carsi co-founder Luana López Lara called the ruling “beautiful” on social media.
Disclosure: Kalsi and CNBC have a commercial relationship that includes minority ownership and customer acquisition.
