NBA and WNBA add prediction markets to gambling risk campaign
The NBA and WNBA have incorporated prediction markets into their gambling risk awareness campaigns. The move comes as agreements and court orders have restricted sports contracts available through Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kalshi, though customers retain access to other products. The leagues' campaign expansion reflects growing regulatory and legal pressure on event contracts tied to professional sports. Separately, the NBA is tightening policies around sponsorship deals with prediction market gambling sites, which lack traditional bookmakers and stated odds.
The campaign expansion fractures what had been the NBA's recent alignment with prediction markets through its Kalshi and Polymarket partnerships and its CFTC information-sharing deal. State attorneys general cite unified league opposition as evidence that event contracts are disguised gambling wagers. The WNBA joining the campaign gives those regulators a league voice they lacked.
The NBA's reported reassessment of sports gambling partnerships deepens that fracture. Kalshi, already fighting parallel state suits, an ambivalent league ally weakens the integrity-market argument it presses in court. The campaign language itself risks becoming Exhibit A in gambling-framing litigation.