NBA partners with Kalshi, Polymarket and DraftKings Predictions

The NBA announced partnerships with Kalshi, Polymarket and DraftKings Predictions while signing a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission covering integrity in basketball event contracts, the league said.

Fourth major league to enter prediction markets

The NBA is the fourth major U.S. professional sports league to partner with prediction markets, joining the MLB, MLS and NHL. The NBA is the first league to expand a sportsbook partnership into prediction markets, extending its agreement with DraftKings to include DraftKings Predictions.

Kalshi and Polymarket are now each a “Preferred Prediction Market Exchange of the NBA” and both platforms receive official league data and intellectual property rights to use NBA marks and logos on their sites. Kalshi will use official NBA data distributed by Sportradar to operate and settle authorized NBA markets.

Restrictions and integrity measures

The agreement restricts which markets can be offered and bars league and team personnel from trading NBA event contracts. Kalshi works with IC360 to detect suspicious activity and identify people who are prohibited from trading.

The NBA and the CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding intended to protect the integrity of professional basketball in prediction markets. The MOU describes itself as a statement of intent and does not create any legally binding rights or obligations.

Legal challenges for Kalshi

Kalshi lost key Sixth and Ninth Circuit rulings that impacts Ohio, Tennessee, Nevada and three tribal lands in California. States such as Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Utah and Washington have won injunctions against Kalshi offering sports event contracts.

The NFL filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court earlier this month, arguing that sports event contracts should be under state jurisdiction. The NFL remains the only major sport in the U.S. that is not partnered with a prediction market.