The National Football League has urged the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to tighten proposed prediction market rules, arguing that stronger safeguards are needed to protect the integrity of the game and consumers.
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- The NFL has asked the CFTC to tighten proposed prediction market rules to enhance the integrity of the game and protect consumers.
- The league wants to impose stricter restrictions on sports contracts that could be manipulated or rely on inside information.
- The CFTC is developing a federal framework for event contracts while requiring exchanges to provide more detailed product filings.
- The request comes as the CFTC continues to defend federal oversight of prediction markets against state-level restrictions.
according to Closing lineAfter obtaining a July 27 letter sent to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, the NFL told the regulator that the draft prediction markets framework contains useful proposals but does not go far enough to address the risks associated with sporting event contracts.
“The NFL’s top priority is maintaining the integrity of our games,” the league wrote in the letter it released. Closing line. Maintaining that integrity is also important for the “stable and orderly administration” of event contracts associated with NFL games and to protect traders who participate in those markets, she added.
The filing comes as the CFTC considers public comments on proposed amendments to Rule 40.11, which would create a federal framework for reviewing contracts for events related to gaming, war, terrorism, assassinations, and illegal activities. The comment period closed on July 27 after attracting responses from sports leagues, exchanges and cryptocurrency industry groups.
The NFL wants to impose stricter restrictions on sports forecasting contracts
Among its recommendations, the NFL called for stricter restrictions on contracts that could be affected by a single participant, rely heavily on official decisions or involve outcomes that might become publicly known, according to the NFL. Closing line.
The association also asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to narrow its proposed definition of permissible contracts. According to the post, the NFL argued that the agency should better distinguish between legitimate event contracts and activities that effectively constitute gambling.
Another concern relates to the CFTC’s proposed 10-day review period for new self-certified contracts. The NFL has reportedly argued that the review period is too short and could allow contracts to remain on the books before regulators have had enough time to evaluate them.
Prize markets have also drawn criticism. The league has questioned why it allows contracts tied to titles such as “Offensive Player of the Year” simply because their outcomes are determined by a voting committee.
Regarding market integrity, the NFL called for clear rules governing the use of material non-public information. It also recommended mandatory league-specific banned betting lists rather than allowing individual platforms to develop their own monitoring systems.
The letter reiterated several recommendations the league had previously made, including A.J Prohibition of margin trading For sporting event contracts, advertising restrictions and a minimum age of 21 to participate.
The CFTC continued to build the federal prediction market framework
The latest filing from the NFL arrives as the CFTC has adopted a more regulatory approach to prediction markets rather than looking for a broad ban.
Earlier this month, the agency’s market surveillance division announced It issued its second compliance warning From year to year, exchanges warn against offering broad template self-certifications covering large blocks of event contracts. Instead, designated contract markets must provide contract-specific terms, settlement methods, data sources and legal analysis for each product they intend to list.
The July 24 report did not eliminate the self-certification process. Exchanges can still offer qualifying event contracts without prior approval from the Commission when they comply with the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules. However, the agency said filings covering open pools of contracts without sufficient product-level detail limit its ability to review settlement procedures, fraud risks and legal compliance.
The guidance follows a warning issued in March reminding exchanges that they act as front-line regulators responsible for reviewing whether contracts can be manipulated and whether settlement sources are reliable before listing products.
Meanwhile, the committee Propose amendments to Rule 40.11 This would create a three-step review process for contracts related to activities specified in the Commodity Exchange Act. Under the proposal, regulators would first determine whether a product qualifies as an event contract, then evaluate whether its settlement is based on activities such as gaming or illegal behavior before applying public interest factors to determine whether the contract should go ahead.
According to legal analysis from Ropes & Gray cited by crypto.news, the proposal would review contracts individually rather than ban entire categories in advance while also distinguishing between games and competitions, placing elections and prize events outside the proposed definition of games.
The league takes a different stance than some sports organizations
Unlike the NHL and Major League Baseball, which have partnered with prediction market platforms including Calcci and PoleMarket, the NFL has repeatedly called for tighter oversight of sports-related event contracts.
In March, the league sent letters to Calci and Polimarket asking the two companies to withdraw several sports contract offers, continuing its position that sports prediction markets require stronger integrity protections.
By contrast, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) headed by Michael Selig has defended federally regulated prediction markets against state challenges while developing formal rules for the industry. Since his appointment in 2025, Selig has supported treating qualified prediction markets as legitimate derivatives subject to federal oversight rather than state gambling laws.
Recent court filings also appear to the committee Defend this position in a lawsuit against Minnesota And win. The agency said the law conflicts with the federal derivatives framework provided under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Kalshi and Polymarket have made similar requests for temporary relief while their legal appeals continue. The dispute could determine whether federally regulated prediction markets remain available nationwide or become subject to individual state gambling restrictions.
NFL commentary arrives as prediction markets continue to expand across sports, politics, economics and current events.
Registered exchanges listed an average of about five event contracts each year between 2006 and 2020, CFTC data included in a rulemaking notice in March showed. This number rose to 131 contracts in 2021 before reaching nearly 1,600 new contracts during 2025.
The most recent certifications cited estimated that prediction markets regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) handled more than $25 billion in trading volume during 2025. The same certification said daily listings on a single major platform increased from about 1,600 contracts in April 2025 to nearly 162,000 by April 2026.
