Novig is complying with an NFL request to prohibit certain prediction markets ahead of Wednesday’s season opener between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Key Takeaways
- Novig won’t offer “easily manipulable, inherently objectionable, officiating-related, and knowable in advance” markets.
- The NFL reached out to prediction market operators last week.
- Novig also requires users to be 21 to trade, another NFL request.
Jacob Fortinsky, the sports-centric trading exchange’s founder and CEO, announced on social media site X that Novig is in “full agreement” with “no exceptions” on markets that involve what the NFL deems “easily manipulable, inherently objectionable, officiating-related, and knowable in advance.”
We received a letter from the @NFL late last week on markets that are "easily manipulable, inherently objectionable, officiating related, and knowable in advance." Shared examples include a kicker missing a field goal or a celebrity attending a game.@Novig is in full agreement…
— Jacob Fortinsky (@j__fort) September 8, 2026
Fortinsky said an example would be offering contracts on a kicker missing a field goal or a celebrity attending an NFL game.
Novig’s stance comes less than a week after the NFL reached out to prediction market operators, asking them to restrict other markets such as a receiver’s first target, a quarterback’s first pass incomplete, yardage on a running back’s first carry, and broadcast mentions.
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Protecting the game
This is the second time that the NFL has asked prediction markets to adhere to manipulable market guidelines. The league sent letters to multiple companies in March, outlining 20 markets that could lead to “unfair and unwanted allegations.”
In May, the NFL sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates prediction markets offered by operators like Novig, Kalshi, and Polymarket, with hopes of having a regulatory framework in time for the season, citing integrity concerns.
“The permittance of event contracts that are not fully collateralized, as some have suggested, particularly related to sports markets, could amplify addictive behavior and loss risk,” Brendon Plack, the NFL’s senior vice president for government affairs and public policy, wrote in the letter.
“These suggestions are aimed at protecting the integrity of the sporting events to which the prediction contracts relate, and protecting participants in these prediction markets from fraudulent or manipulative behavior.”
The CFTC has not publicly announced any formal safeguards or regulatory mandates based on the NFL’s request.
Novig’s age requirement
The league also asked the CFTC to develop a player-performance certification process and requested a universal age requirement of 21 and up to trade NFL contracts.
Novig announced last month that users must be 21 to access its sports event contracts, and Fortinsky said that requirement would not change as long as the operator doesn’t offer financial markets.
The company, which began as a peer-to-peer exchange site and transitioned into a fully-fledged prediction market for sports only in early August, made the age verification part of a series of comprehensive controls.
“Trust is the foundation of every market, and it’s earned through clear rules and accountability,” Fortinsky said last month. “Responsible trading shouldn’t rest solely with the customer – it should always begin with the exchange itself. By codifying responsible trading standards directly into our rulebook, we’re holding ourselves to the same high standard we expect of our participants and establishing a new benchmark for how federally regulated prediction markets should operate.”
In other prediction market news, exchanges generated $790 million in trading volume on college football.
