NBA In Talks With CFTC On 'Memorandum Of Understanding' Concerning Prediction Markets

By Bill Speros

Apr 27th, 2026 3:14 PM EDT

NEW YORK - NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Monday said the NBA is in talks with federal regulators that could result in partnership with prediction market operators.

Speaking to a group from Associated Press Sports Editors, Silver said in response to a question from Bookies.com that the NBA is in talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation about a "memorandum of understanding." That could potentially clear the way for any deal with the likes of Kalshi and Polymarket.

"I'm encouraged by what we're hearing from the CFTC, as the way they're looking at it. I think they want to get it right. They want to hear directly from the leagues about their concerns. So we've engaged directly with the CFTC right now," Silver said. He added any final product would resemble the "memorandum" between Major League Baseball and the CFTC reached last month.

Silver also confirmed the NBA remains in talks with prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket about a potential marketing and data partnership. Front Office Sports reported last week that the issue was discussed in a recent call with NBA team presidents.

"In terms of Kalshi-Polymarket specific, we haven't done any deals yet, but we've maintained an open line of communication with them," he said. "We're watching closely the uptick in the amount of sports activity that's happening on those platforms. We aren't necessarily adverse to entering into licensing deals with them. But again, the league's number one role is to ensure the integrity of the competition. And that's what we're most focused on right now."

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NBA Initially Opposed To Prediction Markets In 2025

Bookies.com initially asked the NBA about prediction markets a year ago.

Silver said then that the NBA continued to monitor the growth of prediction markets, but remained opposed to their operation without the same regulatory guidelines that govern legal US sportsbooks.

“These new trading markets, we're watching them very closely. We are not participating in them. We are not accepting advertising money from them,” Silver said a year ago. “I am concerned about what integrity protections are in place for those trading platforms. And our strong preference again would be for those to be regulated markets. We think that puts us in the best possible position.”

In May 2025, the NBA sent the following letter to the CFTC opposing its eventual approval of sports-related contract trades.

Other Leagues Partner With Prediction Markets

The NBA, NCAA and NFL have yet to join forces with prediction markets. MLB entered a partnership with Polymarket this year. Polymarket has yet to fully launch in the United States. Because of that, it continues to operate in a gray area, at least on its main platform outside the oversight of the CFTC.

The MLB/CFTC “memorandum of understanding" provided “a critical step towards a strong integrity framework within the prediction market space,” MLB said.

Novig co-founder Jacob Fortinsky told Bookies.com last month that the impact of MLB's memorandum with the CFTC cannot be understated.

“That’s the biggest story of the year,” Fortinsky told Bookies.com. “For a while, you had the big sports leagues all saying, ‘We're not going to touch prediction markets. We're firmly in bed with the OSB operators.’ Now, they're changing their tune and they're becoming more comfortable. I think they're beginning to recognize that prediction markets are the future of sports markets. And it makes sense for them to be involved rather than be on the sideline.”

No doubt a similar move from the NBA would carry even greater impact.

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Prediction Markets Under Fire Following Insider-Trading Charges

Silver said Monday his biggest worry concerning prediction markets comes from what is going on away from sports.

Insider-trading concerns were raised following war-related trades following both the U.S. action against Venezuela and the war in Iran. Markets offered multiple outcomes on President Donald Trump leaving office before his term expires after Saturday's "shooting incident" at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

U.S. solider Gannon Ken Van Dyke. Van Dyke allegedly profited $409,881 trading on Polymarket's non-U.S. platform. He allegedly used classified information regarding the timing of a U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

Federal prosecutors charged Van Dyke with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain. In addition he faces theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction charges

Multiple bills in Congress have called for tighter regulation of prediction markets. Silver prefers federal oversight when it comes to betting and sports contract trades.

The DEATH BETS Act. (H.R. 7942) and its companion bill in the Senate would explicitly prohibit any CFTC registered entity from listing any contract that involves, relates to, or references terrorism, assassination, war, or an individual’s death.

"The thing that I've always worried most about is just kind of what we're reading about now with the prediction markets and areas outside of sports," Silver said. "There are lots of people who have inside information at the given time. And we have to make sure that those people know that they're risking their livelihoods. And their freedom, if they engage in that sort of illegal activity."

He added that any integrity guidelines concerning prediction market trades would be more strict than the ones concerning traditional sports betting.

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