Share 
State of Play’s TL;DR
- The NBA has struck partnership deals with Kalshi and Polymarket, giving both platforms preferred status.
- The deal comes as the legal fight over prediction market regulation remains unresolved.
The NBA is formally entering the prediction market space, naming Kalshi and Polymarket as preferred partners while the bigger question — who regulates sports event contracts — is still being fought out.
The league said the agreements give both platforms access to official NBA data and intellectual property rights, including the use of league marks and logos.
The move lands at a pivotal moment for prediction markets, which are facing legal challenges over whether sports-related contracts belong under state gambling oversight or federal regulation through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
NBA adds Kalshi and Polymarket as preferred partners
According to ESPN, the NBA said its deals with Kalshi and Polymarket also create an integrity framework designed to give the league greater influence over the markets offered and improve information sharing.
The league also said there is a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC tied to the arrangement.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA’s executive vice president, said the league had held off on these types of commercial partnerships until it felt the regulatory structure was strong enough to move ahead. On the broader legal dispute over prediction markets, his position was blunt:
“We’ll let the courts decide.”
The NBA also expanded its agreement with DraftKings to cover the operator’s prediction market offering, DraftKings Predictions. A DraftKings spokesperson said the updated deal will help the company “reach and engage eligible customers around NBA event contracts throughout the league ecosystem.”
Why this matters in the regulation fight
For bettors and operators, the announcement is another sign that prediction markets are moving closer to the mainstream of US sports wagering-adjacent products, even as their legal status remains unsettled.
The NBA made clear that its concern is less about choosing sides in the state-versus-federal jurisdiction fight and more about how its games are affected. Kaufman-Ross said:
“The jurisdictional issue is not our issue. Our issue is the way that our game is impacted.”
That distinction matters. By striking deals with Kalshi, Polymarket, and DraftKings, the NBA is building relationships with platforms offering sports event contracts while avoiding a public stance on the core legal question. The league also said its contracts account for a scenario in which those operators are no longer able to offer sports markets.
Based on reporting by David Purdum for ESPN.
