Industry
NBA names Kalshi and Polymarket preferred prediction-market exchanges
The NBA has named Kalshi and Polymarket preferred prediction-market exchanges, added DraftKings to its authorized operator arrangements and agreed to share integrity information with the CFTC.
Preferred exchanges and authorized operators are different
On October 26, the NBA named Kalshi and Polymarket its preferred prediction-market exchanges. The agreements include NBA intellectual-property and marketing rights and access to official data supplied by Sportradar for operating and settling authorized NBA-related markets.
Separately, the league expanded its DraftKings agreement to cover prediction markets under an authorized-operator arrangement. The NBA says it expects more authorized partners. That distinction matters: Kalshi and Polymarket are the two preferred exchanges, but the announcement does not give them exclusive rights to NBA prediction markets.
Limits on markets and trading by league personnel
Under the new agreements, NBA and team personnel are prohibited from trading contracts on NBA events. The league also requires restrictions on which markets can be offered and information-sharing related to investigations and suspicious trading.
The NBA did not publish a complete list of permitted and prohibited contract types in the October 26 announcement. A preferred partnership should therefore not be taken as permission to list every basketball outcome; the permitted markets and each operator's legal obligations remain separate questions.
What the CFTC agreement does and does not change
The NBA separately signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The regulator describes regular communication and information-sharing intended to protect market integrity, including against insider trading and fraud.
The memorandum is a cooperation agreement, not a nationwide gambling licence. It does not settle the continuing disputes between federal and state authorities over who may regulate sports-event contracts. The league's commercial partnerships and the legality of particular contracts in a given state are distinct issues.
Polymarket's own brand information distinguishes its CFTC-regulated U.S. exchange from its separately operated international website. The NBA's U.S. promotional arrangement does not make the international platform CFTC-regulated or available to U.S. customers.