NFL pushes the CFTC for tighter rules on sports event contracts as Mets sign first MLB deal with prediction platform Novig

Days before Super Bowl 60, the NFL told the CFTC that its draft framework for sports event contracts does not go far enough on integrity and consumer protection. At the same time, the New York Mets signed the first commercial deal between a Major League Baseball team and a prediction market platform, which is exactly the sort of crossover that makes regulators reach for thicker binders.

1. In a letter filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) before the public comment deadline on 27 July, the NFL responded to the agency’s 267-page June draft guidance on how to assess whether sports event contracts amount to illegal activity or run against the public interest.
2. The league said the proposal has positive elements, but falls “significantly short” on protecting sports integrity and fans. It asked for a ban on microbets, player-performance contracts, and markets tied to awards, arguing that those products are more exposed to manipulation. The NFL also asked for stricter rules on insider trading and for a league-maintained list of banned bettors. In its own words, it found it “surprising” that no other common-sense integrity and consumer-protection measures had been adopted.
3. Along with the NBA and the NCAA, the NFL also asked the CFTC to set a minimum age of 21 to trade these contracts. The three organizations all dealt with insider-trading cases over the last year, which is the kind of backdrop that tends to concentrate minds in Washington.
4. Earlier, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller had taken a somewhat more open stance. In an interview with Front Office Sports before Super Bowl 60, he called sports event contracts “innovative,” while saying the league needed more regulatory clarity before taking a definitive position. In December, in written testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, Miller said the league was concerned that some contracts could escape state regulators and their usual safeguards.
5. Separately, the New York Mets signed a multi-year commercial agreement with Novig on Thursday, making it the first partnership between a Major League Baseball team and a prediction market platform. The deal followed an April memorandum of understanding between the CFTC and MLB, the first of its kind, aimed at protecting the integrity of baseball-related markets from fraud and manipulation.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the April memorandum was a joint effort by MLB and the regulator to shield these markets from fraud and manipulation, and he praised MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s role. Matt Bakowicz, a professor at American University, said these markets draw attention because they sit at the intersection of finance, gaming, and fan engagement — which is a polite academic way of saying they are attractive to teams and a headache for everyone else who has to supervise them.