NFL Bans Some Prop Wagers, Takes Another Swipe At Prediction Markets

By Bill Speros Nov 13th, 2025 4:55 PM EST

2MF7BTK Betting odds for NFL football's Super Bowl 55 are displayed on monitors at the Circa resort and casino sports book, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The NFL has banned some prop wagers after working with sportsbooks, regulators and lawmakers in recent weeks, the league said in a memo on Thursday.

The league, meanwhile, reiterated its public stance that “prediction markets constitute prohibited gambling activity.”

The move to limit prop wagers comes in the wake of betting scandals that have rocked the NBA, the UFC, and Major League Baseball.

Some of the prohibited prop wagers never found their way to legal U.S. sportsbooks. The current type of conduct found by law enforcement recently triggered the ban, the NFL said.

The FBI charged Terry Rozier, Damon Jones and Hall of Famer and coach Chauncey Billups in 2 separate alleged NBA-related illegal gambling schemes last month. Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmauel Clase and Luis Ortiz, meanwhile, face up to 60 years in jail apiece due to their alleged involvement in a scheme to rig the outcome of individual pitches.

As a result of the charges filed against Ortiz and Clase, MLB partnered with its legal betting partners to cap first-pitch wagers to $200, and prohibited those wagers from inclusion in betting parlays.

NFL Related Prop Bets 'Prohibited' By The NFL

The league offered the following summary of the banned wagers:

• Inherently Objectionable: Markets or bets that are inherently or designed to be derogatory or inflammatory, or otherwise based on subject matter against public policy (e.g., player injuries, fan safety, misconduct, etc.).
• Officiating-Related: Markets or bets based on officials or officiating (e.g., officiating assignments, penalties, replays, etc.).
• Determinable by One Person in One Play: Based on outcomes 100% determinable by one person in one play (e.g., kicker to miss FG attempt, QB's first pass to be incomplete, etc.).
• Pre-Determined: Pre-determined outcomes directly related to on-field competition (e.g., Will QB start this week? Will team's first play from scrimmage be a run or pass, etc.).

First-Play Wagers Popular With Bettors

The biggest change bettors may notice are the ones “Determinable by One Person in One Play.” Markets for the first pass by Patriots QB Drake Maye and Jets QB Justin Fields to be complete or incomplete for Thursday night’s game against the Jets available Thursday on some sites.

Legal books in the U.S. have routinely offered markets on the first pass by QBs, first-play from scrimmage, and made-or-missed field goal attempts.

Markets on penalties, officiating, and player injuries reamin prohibited in many jurisdictions. As markets are fan safety, or player misconduct, or any event off the field that is not subject to an official score or determination.

One legal sportsbetting operator told bookies.com that the memo appeared to “reiterating their policy.”  

FanDuel referred bookies.com to an update of its rules from April. The site bans “any user from the platform found to harass athletes or coaches in response to a betting result.” That marked the first time a U.S. operator implement eda specific policy on suspension for online harassment.  

Not-So-Subtle Shot Taken At Prediction Markets

The NFL’s Thursday memo publicly reiterated the league's antipathy toward prediction markets.

“We also maintain regular communications with clubs and personnel, including players (for example, this week all players received a reminder on the subject of prop bets), and policy updates to respond to developments relating, to sports gambling, such as the recent guidance confirming that so-called "prediction markets" constitute prohibited gambling activity. Our education efforts are strongly supported by the NFLPA,” the league’s memo said.

The statement about prediction markets come after the NHL recently partnered with Kalshi and Robinhood. And, coincidentally, came on the same day Polymarket joined forces with the UFC and TKO as an official partner.

FanDuel Predicts makes its debut in December, the company  said Wednesday, and will offer sports events contracts in states that do not offer legal sports betting. DraftKings Predictions plans to launch either in late Q4 or early next year. DraftKings plans to be taking a similar path and not offer sports events contracts in states where it currently offers sports betting.

Thursday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission sent a letter to sports betting operators in the Bay State concerning prediction markets. The MGC reminded operators that prediction market sports event contracts are not considered legal by the Commonwealth. And it may revisit the issue if/when operators offer those sports-related trades in other states.

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