The NBA has announced partnerships with prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, marking the league's entry into this controversial industry. The agreements include a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), ensuring regulatory oversight and integrity protections for NBA-related prediction markets.

According to NBA.com, the partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket establish significant integrity measures, such as limitations on permissible markets and prohibitions on trading NBA event contracts by league and team personnel. The agreements also involve information-sharing obligations related to investigations and suspicious trading.

Scott Kaufman-Ross, NBA Head of Media Distribution & Partnerships, emphasized the importance of protecting the game's integrity. "As this category develops, we believe it is important to work constructively with regulators and operators to help ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place," he said.

Kalshi and Polymarket will be the NBA's Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges, receiving rights to use NBA intellectual property, marketing rights, and promotional activations across media channels in the United States. They will also receive official NBA data from Sportradar, the NBA's Official Data Distribution Partner, to operate and settle authorized NBA-related markets.

Adam Barrick, Head of Sports Partnerships at Kalshi, expressed excitement about the partnership. "Announcing our partnership with the NBA is a significant milestone," he said. Ari Borod, President of Sports Business Development at Polymarket, added, "This partnership will allow our customers to engage more deeply with the game of basketball on Polymarket."

The NBA has also expanded its agreement with DraftKings to include prediction markets and nationwide promotion. The league plans to extend its relationship with other official sports betting partners in the coming weeks, as reported by CDC Gaming.

The NBA's move into prediction markets comes amid ongoing legal challenges over whether trading on sports falls under state gambling regulators or federal jurisdiction. New Jersey has referred the issue to the Supreme Court, and the NBA is not planning to weigh in on the potential case, ESPN reports. Kaufman-Ross stated, "The jurisdictional issue is not our issue; our issue is the way that our game is impacted."

The Ben Maller Show