The National Football League (NFL) is asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to make several key changes to its current rulebook for prediction market exchanges.
In a letter penned last week by NFL’s SVP of Government Affairs and Public Policy Brendon Plack, the league proposes outright prohibition of injury-based contracts on prediction markets. The letter also requests that prediction exchanges should have a minimum age requirement of 21 for all account holders.
“These suggestions are aimed at (i) protecting the integrity of the sporting events to which the prediction contracts relate, and (ii) protecting participants in these prediction markets from fraudulent or manipulative behavior,” writes Plack, according to CNBC. The NFL’s letter follows whirlwind legal activity by the CFTC, in which the federal agency is reaffirming its exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.
Aside from actively pursuing legal action against Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Illinois, and Arizona, the CFTC filed an amicus brief on May 12th in Kalshi’s ongoing suit against the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC). So far, the CFTC, headed by chairman Mike Selig, has yet to publicly respond to the NFL’s suggestions.
The NFL is asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to impose the following restrictions on prediction market activity:
If incorporated by the CFTC, the minimum age increase would put sports-related prediction markets on equal footing with their US-facing online sportsbook counterparts. However, the move would also significantly reduce the amount of consumer trading volume on exchanges like Kalshi.
Until an official response is released to the public, it is unknown how the CFTC will view the suggested changes. Some experts believe the federal agency may be receptive to certain restrictions on injury-based forecasts, but may balk at raising the minimum age – given the CFTC’s stance that trading activity on prediction markets is completely separate from sports wagers placed on sportsbook apps.
Unlike Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the NFL and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have yet to partner with prediction market apps that currently operate (or hope to open their virtual doors) within the United States. Some analysts believe that the NFL is awaiting an official response from the federal government before it commits to a full-on prediction market partnership.
Meanwhile, the NBA is currently in the midst of its Conference Finals matchups. The UFC and NHL are partnered with both Kalshi and Polymarket. The MLB and MLS have an agreement in place with Polymarket exclusively.
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