The NFL, in a media call on Monday, August 25, made clear its stance against sports prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, stipulating that the league’s regular sports betting rules apply to these platforms as well. The platforms, however, have repeatedly held the view that their system operates in a manner different from that of regular betting.
The league’s views
Sabrina Perel, the NFL’s Chief Compliance Officer, said on a media call with reporters, “Our view is that these platforms mimic sports betting and that they are covered as prohibited conduct under our policy. That would be for all of our personnel, and now we’re educating on this point as well.” In addition, the NFL has urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to tightly regulate such markets after submitting written comments calling for oversight, as reported by Legal Sports Report.
During the media briefing, the league made it clear that they viewed sports prediction markets through the same lens as traditional betting, and hence any and all league rules would apply likewise to both parties. This prohibits players and league members from using these alternate platforms.
“For us, the key distinction is that for now, prediction markets lack certain regulatory requirements that we know regulated sportsbooks are subject to,” said David Highhill, the NFL’s Vice President of Sports Betting. “So for us, we’re concerned that if these markets aren’t properly regulated, they could be susceptible to manipulation or price distortion.”
{{/usCountry}}“For us, the key distinction is that for now, prediction markets lack certain regulatory requirements that we know regulated sportsbooks are subject to,” said David Highhill, the NFL’s Vice President of Sports Betting. “So for us, we’re concerned that if these markets aren’t properly regulated, they could be susceptible to manipulation or price distortion.”
{{/usCountry}}Sports event contracts, despite holding an uncanny resemblance to betting procedures, continue to hold the stance of being different. Kalshi has repeatedly maintained in court cases with regulators in Nevada, New Jersey, and Maryland that on the exchange, bettors wager against one another as opposed to the house.
However, a federal judge in Maryland recently decreed that the platform must comply with the state’s gambling guidelines, as reported by Front Office Sports. In this measure, regulators have agreed not to enforce their laws until the 4th Circuit rules on Kalshi’s appeal.
Kalshi had recently announced plans to introduce an expansion of its sports event contracts, which could give users the chance to put money on how many touchdowns a given player will score in a game, point spreads, and the overall total score.
– With inputs from Stuti Gupta