NBA signs prediction-market deal with Kalshi and Polymarket amid integrity concerns and state scrutiny

Kalshi and Polymarket will become the NBA’s preferred prediction-market platforms, with permission to use league promotional assets in their marketing. In return, the league gets oversight rights on certain markets and access to information tied to investigations and suspicious activity — the kind of arrangement that matters when a product starts looking a lot like betting, and regulators start paying attention.

1. Under the deal, Kalshi and Polymarket can use NBA materials in promotional campaigns, while the league can supervise certain markets offered by both companies. The NBA will also receive information related to investigations and activity deemed suspicious.
2. The agreement lands as prediction markets are growing under a regulatory framework that currently allows them to operate across the United States. Unlike traditional sports betting, there is no sportsbook setting odds; users trade against each other through digital platforms. That structural difference has drawn criticism from some authorities.
3. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi this summer, accusing it of operating an illegal betting business. The NBA’s move comes against the backdrop of a league that has already been pulled into several betting-related cases in recent years.
4. Several NBA figures already have commercial ties to these platforms. LeBron James is linked to Polymarket, and Giannis Antetokounmpo works with Kalshi. Victor Wembanyama has publicly criticized those agreements, calling it “very sad to see some players promoting” sports betting.
5. The NBA said the new arrangement lets it block the creation of markets it considers especially vulnerable to manipulation. Scott Kaufman-Ross, the league’s head of media distribution and partnerships, said: “Protecting the integrity of the game is our top priority,” adding that as the category develops, it is important to work constructively with regulators and operators to ensure adequate safeguards. The agreement also expressly bars league and team employees from trading in markets related to the NBA.

The league also expanded its deal with DraftKings to include prediction markets. For PSPs and other payment providers watching this space, the practical point is simple: prediction markets are no longer operating as a side show. They are getting official league partnerships, public scrutiny, and the same integrity questions that follow sports betting wherever it goes.