NBA signs CFTC integrity pact and names Kalshi, Polymarket preferred exchanges

The National Basketball Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Oct. 26, joining Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League in a formal data-sharing arrangement with the federal derivatives regulator over prediction markets. The league announced the same day that it had designated Kalshi and Polymarket as its Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges, giving both platforms commercial rights and binding both to integrity obligations on NBA-related contracts.

Through the MOU, the CFTC and NBA will share information by communicating regularly on matters relating to integrity and on maintaining fair and transparent prediction markets, according to the CFTC's announcement. CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said the pact "continues the Commission's commitment to increasing data sharing between the agency and professional sports leagues." He added that the NBA "joins the MLB and NHL in taking a responsible step toward protecting sports integrity and market participants from abuses in prediction markets like insider trading and fraud," and thanked Commissioner Adam Silver for his role in the negotiations.

The league's own announcement described a set of agreements rather than a single deal. The MOU with the CFTC sits alongside the preferred-exchange designations and a separate expansion of the league's existing relationship with DraftKings to cover prediction markets and nationwide promotion. The NBA said it plans to expand ties with other official sports betting partners and others in the industry in the coming weeks, and that every Authorized Prediction Market Operator partnership will carry integrity obligations and market restrictions aligned with the league's sports betting rules.

The preferred-exchange agreements impose specific limits. According to the NBA release, they include restrictions on which NBA markets are permissible, outright prohibitions on league and team personnel trading NBA event contracts, and information-sharing obligations that cover investigations and suspicious trading. In return, Kalshi and Polymarket receive rights to use NBA intellectual property, marketing rights and promotional activations across media channels in the United States, plus official NBA data from Sportradar, the league's data distribution partner, to operate and settle authorized NBA markets.

Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA's head of media distribution and partnerships, said protecting the integrity of the game is the league's top priority. "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," Kaufman-Ross said in the release. "These partnerships represent an important step in establishing a framework that creates new opportunities to engage our fans."

Kalshi and Polymarket executives echoed the framing. Adam Barrick, Kalshi's head of sports partnerships, called the relationship "a significant milestone" and said the exchange builds markets that are "fair, safe, and open." Ari Borod, president of sports business development at Polymarket, said the partnership "will allow our customers to engage more deeply with the game of basketball." Kalshi said in a separate posting that the arrangement with the NBA covers sharing integrity data, reporting suspicious trading and cooperating on investigations.

The NBA's decision contrasts with the National Football League, which has publicly refused similar arrangements. The NFL sided with state regulators in a filing asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the wider jurisdiction fight over prediction markets, CoinDesk reported. In that filing, the league argued that CFTC oversight of the industry has been lax and understaffed, and that the platforms "are not subject to the same rigorous regulatory constructs and oversight provided by state gaming authorities," as Decrypt summarized.

The timing carries extra weight for basketball. An October 2025 FBI operation led to the arrest of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and a coach over alleged involvement in gambling schemes, including one centered on manipulating game outcomes to influence bets, Decrypt reported. No connection between that case and the new CFTC arrangement has been alleged; the MOU creates a standing channel for flagging the kind of suspicious activity that case illustrated.

The broader legal backdrop remains unsettled. Three major federal court decisions have landed on both sides of whether state gambling laws reach CFTC-regulated event contracts, with two favoring the states' position, according to CoinDesk. The CFTC has separately moved to define event contracts as swaps within its own remit while excluding casino-style gambling, and the Supreme Court has been asked to resolve the dispute, including through the NFL's filing. The NBA pact takes effect in commercial terms immediately through the preferred-exchange designations; the release does not specify a duration for the CFTC memorandum.