Tali Eason #17 of the Houston Rockets, Armen Thompson #1 and #15 Austin Reeves of the Los Angeles Lakers look for a rebound during Game 5 of Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Adam Pantozzi | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
The NBA is embracing prediction markets for the first time by naming leading platforms Kalshi and Polymarket as its preferred exchanges.
The league said the “critical integrity” of the NBA market will be protected through the agreement, including restrictions on the types of event contracts that will be covered and information-sharing requirements regarding suspicious transactions.
“Protecting the integrity of the game is our top priority,” Scott Kaufman Ross, NBA director of media distribution and partnerships, said in a press release. “These partnerships are an important step in establishing a framework that creates new opportunities to engage with our fans.”
As part of the announcement, the league also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that claims prediction markets falls under its jurisdiction. According to the memo, the agreement aims to maintain the health of both the NBA and the event contract market through the exchange of information.
The NBA is the latest league to partner with the burgeoning prediction market industry. Much of the industry’s growth is due to the popularity of sports-related services. The NHL announced partnerships with both Calci and Polymarket in October 2025, while MLB announced its relationship with the latter in March.
But these same deals have come under fire from states across the country, who say their offerings amount to sports betting and should be regulated by the states. Platforms and the CFTC argue that event contracts are swaps, a type of derivative, and therefore regulated at the federal level. Courts across the country have issued conflicting rulings on the issue, and many expect it will likely take the Supreme Court to resolve the dispute.
“The NBA is one of the most influential sports leagues in the world, and we are excited to work together to bring fans closer to the game,” Ari Borod, Polymarket’s president of sports business development, said in a press release.
As preferred exchanges, Kalshi and Polymarket will receive the rights to use NBA intellectual property along with marketing and licensing rights.
“This is an exciting time for both NBA fans and Calci users,” Adam Barrick, Calci’s head of sports partnerships, said in a release. “The relationship we have built together reflects our shared mindset of prioritizing fan engagement, innovation and safety.”
Monday’s NBA move makes the NFL an outlier among America’s major sports leagues when it comes to prediction markets.
Earlier this month, the NFL said in amicus briefs to the Supreme Court that contracts for sports-related events should be regulated by states, not the CFTC. He added that the league is not against the market, but rather believes there should be more guardrails.
At the time, Carsi told CNBC that he had tried to work more closely with the NFL, but the league was not involved.
However, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took a different approach to the regulation issue in an interview with CNBC’s Contessa Brewer in early October.
“At least from the NBA’s perspective, there are about 40 different jurisdictions regulating us right now,” he said. “So I think it’s in our best interest to have a consistent policy across the country.”
—CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed reporting
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalsi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and minority ownership.
