NBA Pursuing CFTC Agreement as Leagues Warm to Prediction Markets

^{NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said the league's top priority remains protecting the integrity of the games as the league considers entering into agreements with prediction markets. (Photo: DPA Picture Alliance / Alamy)}

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters on Monday that his league was in talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) about a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow the two organizations to share information and help protect the integrity of both games and related prediction markets.

Silver’s comments come after Major League Baseball signed the first such MOU between a professional sports league and the CFTC.

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According to Silver, any NBA-CFTC agreement would likely resemble the MLB memorandum, which was announced on March 19.

“I’m encouraged by what we’re hearing from the CFTC,” Silver told reporters. “I think they want to get it right. They want to hear directly from the leagues about their concerns. So we’ve engaged directly with the CFTC right now.”

The announcement comes as the NBA continues discussions with both Kalshi and Polymarket about potentially partnering with the prediction market platforms. Reports have been swirling about growing interest in such a deal with Polymarket and/or Kalshi in recent weeks, and Silver confirmed that talks are ongoing.

“We aren’t necessarily adverse to entering into licensing deals with them,” Silver said. “But again, the league’s number one role is to ensure the integrity of the competition.”

MLB’s MOU with the CFTC was designed to allow the two organizations to “discuss, cooperate, and exchange information concerning issues of common interest.” In particular, the CFTC said the agreement would focus on integrity concerns for both partners – something certain to be the focus of an NBA MOU as well.

“The MOU is a collaborative step towards promoting the integrity and resilience of the prediction markets relating to professional baseball,” CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in a statement announcing the MLB agreement. “Through this MOU, the CFTC is well-positioned to add additional tools to protect these markets and its participants from fraud, manipulation, and other abuses.”

Leagues Lining Up to Partner with Polymarket, Kalshi

If the NBA partners with prediction markets, they won’t be alone in the world of professional sports.

In October 2025, the NHL announced it would become the first major North American sports league to partner with prediction market platforms, naming both Kalshi and Polymarket as the official prediction market partners of the NHL.

On March 19 – the same day as it signed its MOU with the CFTC – MLB also announced that it was naming Polymarket as its Official Prediction Market Exchange. Polymarket may be paying as much as $300 million over three years for the MLB agreement, according to a report from Front Office Sports.

UFC also reached a deal with Polymarket in November 2025, while MLS did the same in January 2026.

These deals have come amid increased scrutiny of prediction market platforms by both state and federal officials. Many state gaming regulators have engaged in legal battles over whether prediction markets can ignore state-level regulations, while lawmakers in Congress have expressed concern over insider trading scandals on the site. The platforms themselves maintain that they offer CFTC-regulated financial products and are taking steps to combat insider trading.