The National Basketball Association (NBA) has named Kalshi and Polymarket the preferred exchanges for NBA prediction markets and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the league said on 26 October 2026.
The package also extends the league’s DraftKings deal to event contracts and sets integrity rules for every platform listing NBA markets. The league did not disclose the financial terms or the length of the agreements.
Terms for the exchanges
As Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges, Kalshi and Polymarket each receive rights to use NBA intellectual property, marketing rights and promotional activations across US media channels, according to the NBA’s announcement. Both will take official NBA data from Sportradar, the league’s Official Data Distribution Partner, to run and settle authorised markets.
In return, the agreements limit which NBA markets the two exchanges may list. League and team personnel are barred from trading NBA event contracts, and both platforms must share information with the league on investigations and suspicious trading.
Protecting the integrity of the game is our 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.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, Head of Media Distribution & Partnerships, NBA
We believe in markets that are fair, safe, and open – it’s why millions of people are coming to Kalshi to trade with nationwide consumer protections.
Adam Barrick, Head of Sports Partnerships, Kalshi
Ari Borod, President, Sports Business Development at Polymarket, said the deal “will allow our customers to engage more deeply with the game of basketball on Polymarket.”
The NBA’s CFTC agreement
The MOU between the NBA and the CFTC, the federal regulator of US prediction markets, covers cooperation and information sharing on NBA-related markets.
DraftKings becomes an Authorized Prediction Market Operator under an expanded agreement that adds prediction markets and nationwide promotion. The operator has been building its own event-contract product, which drew a Bank of America upgrade to Buy earlier in October.
The NBA plans to add other official sports betting partners, and other companies in the sector, in the coming weeks. Every operator deal will carry integrity obligations specific to prediction markets and market restrictions in line with the league’s latest sports betting rules.
State challenges
The agreements come as US states contest whether sports event contracts fall under federal commodities law or state gambling law. New York, where the NBA has its headquarters, is suing prediction markets over alleged illegal sports betting, according to ESPN’s report on the deal.
Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the league waited until a proper regulatory framework was in place before signing commercial prediction market deals, and that the contracts cover a scenario in which the exchanges can no longer offer sports markets. The NBA follows the NHL and MLB in partnering with the platforms, ESPN reported.
The NFL, which has no prediction market partner, filed a brief backing New Jersey at the Supreme Court on its request for a review. Kalshi is separately pursuing a rehearing after its Sixth Circuit loss.
Next steps
The US Supreme Court is due to decide in the coming months whether to take up New Jersey’s prediction markets case. The NBA expects to name further Authorized Prediction Market Operators in the coming weeks.
Source: National Basketball Association
