The NBA is officially getting into business with prediction markets.
The NBA has partnered with Kalshi as a Preferred Prediction Market Exchange. Official NBA data to settle trades, stronger safeguards, and NBA branding on Kalshi. Fans come to Kalshi because open markets are a fairer way to trade basketball. Now, it’s Official. https://t.co/1ANtToovTn
— Kalshi (@Kalshi) October 26, 2026
The professional basketball league has now partnered with Kalshi and Polymarket, two well-known prediction market operators, according to press releases sent out Monday. The NBA has also extended a previous relationship with DraftKings to include the latter’s prediction market platform.
“Today, Kalshi is becoming a Preferred Prediction Market Exchange of the NBA,” the company said in a press release. “Our partnership will bring official NBA data to Kalshi’s basketball markets and establish direct collaboration with the league on market integrity, consumer protections, and athlete safety.”
The partnerships could be viewed as a vote of confidence in the sports-related business of prediction markets, which is being challenged in court across the U.S. It also means that the NBA has now joined the MLB and NHL in forming prediction market partnerships.
.@CFTC and National Basketball Association Sign MOU to Protect Integrity in Professional Basketball: https://t.co/wL6Sdtwzc5
— CFTC (@CFTC) October 26, 2026
Monday’s prediction market news coincided with the federal regulator, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announcing it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NBA “intended to protect the integrity of professional basketball in prediction markets.”
“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,” CFTC Chair Michael Selig in a press release. “I thank NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for putting the integrity of professional basketball and America’s financial markets first and for working with the CFTC on this MOU.”
.@DraftKings is extending its longstanding marketing relationship with the NBA into prediction markets. The agreement expands our ability to reach and engage eligible customers around NBA event contracts throughout the league ecosystem, complementing the continued expansion of DraftKings Predictions within our broader sports platform.
— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) October 26, 2026
The NBA previously voiced some concern about sports-related prediction markets, namely that proposed rules from the CFTC “did not incorporate many of the integrity-related protections and requirements” that the league previously recommended.
The professional basketball league also wanted a certain degree of control over whatever is being offered to traders.
“With respect to new markets in particular, we continue to believe that leagues are best positioned to determine which markets pose outsized integrity risks or are susceptible to manipulation,” the NBA’s submission said. “Accordingly, we believe that leagues should have control over the types of markets offered on their competitions and businesses.”
Monday's announcement suggests the league has managed to get more input into what prediction markets are offering. Kalshi said it and the NBA “will establish direct channels to share integrity data, report suspicious trading, and cooperate on investigations.
“The agreement includes restrictions on permissible markets and explicit prohibitions on league and team personnel trading NBA event contracts, reinforcing our rules against insider trading and manipulation,” the press release added.
Nationally, naturally
Kalshi even quoted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's preference for national rules (which is what prediction markets obey via the CFTC) rather than state-by-state ones (followed by online sportsbooks), in its announcement.
“Frankly, from at least the NBA standpoint, we have roughly 40 different jurisdictions regulating us right now,” Silver said. “So to have a consistent policy nationally, I think would be in our best interest.”
More to come.
