While the courts have yet to definitively rule on whether sports event contracts are just sports betting by another name, the NFL has apparently seen enough.
Photo By – Imagn Images.
NFL players can’t bet on the NFL using a typical sportsbook, nor can they bet on it using a federally regulated prediction market.
- The NFL has formally banned players and personnel from using federally regulated prediction markets to bet on NFL games, viewing these markets as equivalent to traditional sports betting.
- Prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Robinhood, offer nationwide betting through CFTC oversight, bypassing state-level regulation and raising integrity concerns for the league.
- Amid ongoing legal debates about the nature of sports event contracts, the NFL emphasized the lack of regulatory safeguards and information-sharing relative to state-regulated sportsbooks.
An NFL official said as much on Monday during a media briefing regarding the league’s sports betting-related policies and programs.
“Our view is that these platforms mimic sports betting and that they are covered as prohibited conduct under our policy, and that would be for all of our personnel,” said Sabrina Perel, NFL chief compliance officer. “And now we’re educating on this point as well, specifically stating that … engaging in these platforms would be prohibited under the policy.”
A league spokesperson later clarified to Covers that NFL players can still use prediction markets for wagering on sports other than the NFL (and presumably for betting on other events, such as elections) as long as they aren’t betting at a team facility or while traveling for work.
This is similar to the league’s broader gambling policy, which prohibits players from wagering on the NFL and while on the job but allows them to gamble on other sports as long as they use legal sportsbooks.
The NFL’s 6 key gambling rules for players:
– Never bet on the NFL
– Don’t have someone bet for you
– Don’t gamble at team facility/stadium or on road game trip
– Don’t share inside information
– Don’t enter a sportsbook during the NFL season
– Don’t play daily fantasy football— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) August 25, 2025
It’s a timely clarification for the NFL, as the upcoming regular season will be heavily wagered upon at online sports betting sites in the U.S. but also via the relatively new avenue of federally regulated prediction markets.
Those prediction markets, such as Crypto.com and Kalshi, only began offering sports-related event contracts near the end of the last NFL season.
While the legality of the event contracts is being challenged in the courts, these markets make it possible to bet on sports in all 50 states, rather than just the ones that have legalized event wagering.
The NFL did indeed write to the CFTC a year ago to voice concerns that sports event contracts “would mimic sports betting but seemingly without the robust regulatory features that accompany regulated and legalized sports betting…”https://t.co/ZNCrY9ha4U @Covers
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) August 25, 2025
Furthermore, the platforms offering those sports event contracts, such as Kalshi and Robinhood, are subject to the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), rather than state-level rules set by lawmakers and gaming commissions.
This has thus far put the contracts beyond the reach of, say, the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Whereas a state-level regulator like the OCCC could receive reports of suspicious wagering activity from the sportsbook operators it oversees and then tip off the NFL, the league lacks such relationships with CFTC-regulated prediction markets.
We warned you
The NFL has had concerns about sports event contracts longer than most, having written to the CFTC a year ago to warn about potential problems. The league’s vice president of sports betting, David Highhill, reiterated some of those concerns Monday.
“I think what’s important about the sports betting markets right now that are legal is that they have robust protections that include information sharing between sportsbooks and the leagues,” Highhill said. “There’s integrity monitoring requirements, there’s prohibitions on certain types of wagers or markets that are more subject to influence.”
Some takeaways from today’s NFL media briefing on sports betting:
-NFL view is prediction markets “mimic” sports betting and are prohibited conduct under league gambling policy
-zero players disciplined last season for gambling-related issues
-focused on wager types, worked with…— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) August 25, 2025
NFL officials highlighted other aspects of the league’s gambling policies and positions Monday, such as no sharing of “inside” information. Those rules have led to players facing discipline in the past, although it was noted Monday there were no gambling-related suspensions last season.
Still, that discipline arose from the state-regulated market for sports betting and gambling, not federally regulated prediction markets. The 2025 season will involve both, which could cause concern for the NFL.
“I think 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) the objectionable bet prohibitions,” Highhill said.
“So, for us, 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 all leagues have the same types of protections in place.”