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If there were any lingering doubts about pro footballers and sports contracts, the NFL has made its stance crystal clear: trading on sports event contracts through prediction markets is considered sports betting.
During a press conference on Monday (Aug 25), Sabrina Perel, the league’s Chief Compliance Officer, emphasized that the NFL is explicitly advising players and staff against using platforms like Kalshi or Robinhood for such trades. This prohibition aligns with the league’s existing rules on traditional sports wagering.
“On the policy side, our view is that these platforms mimic sports betting and that they are covered as prohibited conduct under our policy,” Perel said. “That would be for all of our personnel. And we’re educating on this point as well, specifically stating that engaging in these platforms would be prohibited under the policy.”
However, a league spokesperson later clarified to Covers that while NFL players cannot engage in trading sports contracts related to their league, they may still use these platforms for other sports or events, such as elections, as long as they are not doing so at team facilities or during work travel.
“NFL players could participate in prediction markets in sports other than the NFL and as long as they aren’t doing it at work or on a work trip,” said Alex Riethmiller, vice president of communications for the NFL, in an email. “In that way, it mirrors the policy for regular sports betting.”
No Exceptions for Sports Contracts
The NFL maintains a firm stance on its gambling policy, banning all league employees from wagering on any games and prohibiting them from having others place bets on their behalf.
Players face similar restrictions as they cannot gamble at team facilities or engage in daily fantasy football. To ensure compliance, the league had made gambling policy training mandatory, with former players aiding in the effort to communicate these rules effectively.
However, prediction markets and their associated sports contracts present a new challenge that both the sports and gambling industries are still trying to understand. The recent clarification of NFL policy comes at a time when platforms like Kalshi and Robinhood have expanded their offerings to include pro and amateur football contracts.
League Worried About Manipulation and Integrity
The NFL faces challenges in monitoring whether its employees use prediction markets to trade on sports, especially since the league lacks the same level of data-sharing and integrity partnerships that it has with licensed sportsbooks.
David Highhill, the NFL’s VP of Sports Betting, highlighted that collaborations with teams, betting operators, and data firms are crucial for ensuring robust protections in the regulated US sports betting sector.
“For us, the key distinction is that, for now, prediction markets lack certain regulatory requirements that we know regulated sportsbooks are subject to, like information sharing, responsible betting tools and objectionable bet prohibitions,” he stated. “We’re concerned that if these markets aren’t properly regulated, they could be susceptible to manipulation or price distortion.
“So, however this comes to be through the legal channels, I think it’s really important that we take advantage of the robust framework that we’ve put in place via the legalized sports betting process, and that all leagues have the same types of protections in place.”
NFL Working With Multiple Parties to Find Middle Ground
The NFL has been raising concerns about sports event contracts for over a year, having reached out to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to address potential issues. Highhill confirmed that that outreach was part of a broader effort that includes other leagues like MLB and the NBA, which have also expressed their worries to regulators.
In addition, NFL executives are actively collaborating with regulators, lawmakers, and sportsbooks to limit betting on markets that are especially vulnerable to manipulation. This includes areas like betting on injuries or specific outcomes within a game, such as field goal attempts.
Source: SBCAmericas
