The National Football League (NFL) has advised all players and staff in the game that it considers trading on sports event contracts to be sports betting.
It is a move that will have raised a few eyebrows among executives at Kalshi and Robinhood, the two event contract platforms that offer such services.
Both are presently embroiled in high-profile litigations with state authorities who issue gambling licenses, as the companies maintain that their offerings are trades on sports outcomes, not bets.
That is not the view of the NFL, who have warned all participants in the league that sports events contracts are covered under their gambling policy that prohibits sports betting by its members.
The Case For The NFL
NFL chief compliance officer Sabrina Perel said: “On the policy side, 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 we’re educating on this point as well, specifically stating that engaging in these platforms would be prohibited under the policy.”
That clarification has landed just a few days after FanDuel entered the prediction markets arena through a partnership with derivatives marketplace CME Group.
The popular sports betting app has set out its stall at this stage by saying the new joint-venture will be offering event contracts only, though it did not deny that sport contracts was always a possibility in future.
In response to the news, the Nevada regulator warned FanDuel over its prediction markets move as the state Gaming Commission is one of the bodies presently involved in litigation with Kalshi.
Gaming Commissioner Brian Kolicki said: “You’re moving in a direction of CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission ] oversight, but you understand that we’re in the position of litigation not only as a Commission, but personally.
“This events market is a very sensitive spot for us and in conflict with this state and our Gaming Control Act and other states’ sports betting.”
FanDuel does not offer a sports betting site in Nevada at present as it is only licensed to supply information services.
Non-NFL Betting Given Green Light
Further clarification on the NFL’s standpoint came from Alex Riethmiller, vice-president of communications.
He said that NFL personnel would still be allowed to engage with prediction markets involving non-NFL events, so long as that was conducted on their own time.
“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,” Riethmiller said.
“In that way, it mirrors the policy for regular sports betting.”
David Highhill, the NFL’s vice president of sports betting, outlined that the present lack of oversight for federally regulated prediction markets compared with state-regulated sports betting, was a main concern.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
