NFL Presses CFTC to Strengthen Prediction Market Regulations for Sports

^{The NFL is pushing federal regulators to adopt stronger rules and consumer protections for sports prediction markets. (Photo: PhotoKratky / Alamy)}

The NFL has told the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it wants stronger rules for prediction markets and their sports-based contracts, arguing that such regulations are necessary to protect the integrity of its competitions.

Those comments came in a letter sent to the CFTC on Monday, the final day for comments on the rule proposals posted in June.

Leagues Weigh in on CFTC Regulations

The NFL joined most other professional leagues, including the NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, and ATP Tour, in commenting on the proposals, with several other sports organizations and player unions making their voices known during an earlier comment period in May.

In the letter to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, the league provided commentary on the proposed rules.

 “While the Proposed Prediction Market Rulemaking contains several productive proposals, it must be strengthened in key areas,” the league wrote in a letter to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig. “The draft rules fall significantly short of protecting the integrity of sporting events and the fans who participate in these markets. It is surprising that further common-sense integrity and consumer protection measures provided in the Prior League Comment Letter were not adopted.”

In the letter, which was signed by NFL Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Government Affairs Brendon Plack, the NFL asks the CFTC to ban several categories of contracts, including “those which are easily manipulable by a single person, are inherently objectionable, depend on discretionary officiating choices, or which are known or knowable in advance of settlement.”

“We believe these objectionable contracts are detrimental to the long-term health of these markets, to the public, and to the leagues,” the NFL wrote. “The Commission must expressly prohibit the listing, trading, or clearing of categories of contracts it identifies as particularly susceptible to manipulation or that raise other public policy concerns.”

NFL Recommends Gambling-Style Rules for Prediction Markets

The NFL also requested that the CFTC mandate the use of consumer protection tools that are commonly found in the gaming industry. These would include a centralized self-exclusion list, the ability to set deposit and loss limits, user activity notifications, and the ability to set cooldown periods. 

The league also said it would “strongly encourage” implementing a 21-and-over age limit for prediction markets, which currently allow users as young as 18.

Other areas of concern for the NFL were more technical, including how contracts were reviewed and approved, the definition of gaming used by the CFTC, and specific regulations dealing with market manipulation. 

Along with the NBA, the NFL does not yet have a prediction market partner. That stands in contrast with MLB, which has partnered with Polymarket, and the NHL, which has agreements with both Kalshi and Polymarket. The league made it clear that it was not endorsing prediction markets with its comments, but that it felt the rules it suggested were “necessary to protect the integrity of sports leagues, prevent harassment of coaches, players, and referees, and provide essential consumer protections for fans.”

The CFTC released a lengthy rules proposal in June, framing it as an effort to modernize its rules while removing some ambiguity about which markets prediction markets could offer in the United States. Notably, the rules would continue to allow sports-based contracts in general, which make up the vast majority of volume on US prediction market platforms, but would ban markets based on youth sports and appeared likely to remove approval for many types of markets based on prop bets.