NBA moves toward CFTC data-sharing pact and ties with Kalshi and Polymarket

The NBA has picked a side in the fight over who gets to regulate sports prediction markets. It isn’t siding with the states. The league has signed a data-sharing memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal derivatives regulator. It also struck partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket, the two biggest names in the space. What the NBA actually signed The core of the deal is an MOU with the CFTC. That is the agency overseeing federally regulated exchanges that list event contracts. That integrity angle matters because basketball is unusually exposed. A single player can swing a game, and player prop markets are popular. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had previously acknowledged talks with the CFTC and said the league was in contact with both Kalshi and Polymarket. He framed integrity and transparency as the league’s priorities. The partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket put the league in direct business with the platforms rather than just watching them from the sidelines. Both already list NBA game outcomes, player props, and season-long markets. There is a crypto dimension here too. Polymarket US settles trades in USDC, a dollar-pegged stablec...