The NBA has named Kalshi and Polymarket its preferred prediction market exchanges, giving both platforms commercial rights while securing restrictions on basketball trading. The agreements were announced on October 26 alongside a separate cooperation deal with the federal regulator overseeing prediction markets.
For fans, the development brings official basketball data and league branding to platforms where customers trade contracts tied to sporting outcomes. It also gives the NBA a more direct role in deciding which markets its partners can offer.
League Approval Comes With Trading Restrictions
The partnerships include limits on permitted markets, bans on league and team personnel trading NBA event contracts, and requirements to share information about suspicious activity and investigations.
An NBA spokesperson told SBC Americas that the league’s prediction market partners will face restrictions similar to those recently agreed with sportsbooks. Those sportsbook measures include preventing customers from combining multiple bets on the same player finishing below statistical targets in one parlay.
Kalshi said its arrangement establishes direct channels for exchanging integrity information and cooperating on investigations. It will also use official NBA data supplied by Sportradar to operate and settle authorized basketball markets.
That data connection matters when a contract’s outcome depends on the official score or a recorded statistic. It gives the exchange an agreed source for determining results, alongside the separate controls intended to detect improper trading.
Federal Cooperation Does Not Settle the Legal Fight
The NBA separately signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The agency said the agreement supports regular communication and information sharing about basketball integrity, insider trading and fraud.
The NBA joins Major League Baseball and the NHL in establishing this kind of cooperation with the CFTC.
However, the dispute over who should regulate sports event contracts remains unresolved. The CFTC maintains that prediction markets fall under federal financial regulation. Several states argue that sports contracts amount to gambling and should comply with state betting laws.
The commercial partnerships therefore do not provide a nationwide legal ruling. Official league status and permission to offer a product in a particular jurisdiction remain separate questions.
DraftKings Also Expands Its NBA Agreement
DraftKings extended its existing NBA relationship to cover prediction markets and nationwide promotion. Kalshi and Polymarket will receive rights to NBA branding, marketing opportunities and official data under their preferred exchange agreements.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The NBA also plans to broaden its prediction market relationships with other companies in the coming weeks.
