CFTC and NBA sign information-sharing pact for basketball prediction markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and National Basketball Association (NBA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 26 October 2026 to protect the integrity of professional basketball in prediction markets, the CFTC announced. The arrangement provides for regular communication and discussion on integrity matters, fair and transparent prediction markets, and information sharing between the regulator and league. CFTC chairman Michael S. Selig said the NBA joins Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League in working with the Commission on sports integrity.

The CFTC identified insider trading and fraud as examples of abuses in prediction markets.

The MOU and the NBA’s commercial deals are separate

The NBA’s own announcement describes the CFTC MOU as one part of a broader package of agreements. It designates Kalshi and Polymarket as the league’s Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges.

According to the NBA, those commercial arrangements include restrictions on the markets that may be offered, affirmative prohibitions on league and team personnel trading NBA event contracts, and information-sharing obligations connected with investigations and suspicious trading. The preferred exchanges also receive rights to use NBA intellectual property, marketing rights and promotional activations in the United States, together with official NBA data from Sportradar for authorised NBA-related markets and their settlement.

The NBA has separately expanded its agreement with DraftKings to cover prediction markets and nationwide promotion. It says authorised prediction-market partnerships will include enhanced integrity obligations and market restrictions aligned with its latest sports-betting restrictions. The league also plans to expand its relationships with other existing official sports-betting partners and other industry participants.

The regulatory boundary

The CFTC’s notice of proposed rulemaking remains only a proposal. It would expressly further define swap to include event contracts based on sports, politics, cultural events and weather. A separate interim rule, effective 19 October, excludes certain casino-style gambling products, including qualifying sportsbook wagers and casino games, from the swap definition.

Practical effects for market operators

The immediate operational issue is market design. The NBA says the preferred-exchange agreements limit permissible markets, restrict personnel trading and provide for information sharing around investigations and suspicious trading. For a platform seeking an NBA relationship, practical questions include how league data is used in settlement and how integrity information is exchanged.

For Atlas, the memorandum highlights the overlap between federal market oversight and league integrity arrangements. For participating exchanges, a practical question is how their own integrity processes interact with the league’s information-sharing arrangements.

There is also a potential overlap with existing sports-betting controls. The NBA says its authorised prediction-market agreements will align restrictions with its latest sports-betting arrangements. Firms operating across sportsbook and event-contract products should therefore avoid assuming that one control framework answers both questions.

*Clarification, 26 October 2026: The reference to the interim exclusion now identifies examples of the products covered.*