NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters during All-Star Weekend the league is “paying enormous amount of attention” to prediction markets following Giannis Antetokounmpo’s investment in Kalshi.
Prediction markets were a hot topic during NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, as league officials, players, and betting-industry stakeholders grappled with the growing role of event contract trading in sports. The timing coincides with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s recently announced investment in prediction exchange Kalshi, a move that has intensified discussion about how professional sports leagues might engage with the fast-growing sector.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking to reporters during All-Star Weekend media availability Saturday, signaled both caution and increased attention from the league. Silver said prediction markets are “an issue that I’m paying enormous amount of attention to.”
“We currently are looking at prediction markets essentially in the same way that we’re looking at sports betting markets or sports betting companies,” the commissioner said, as reported by the Sports Business Journal.
The comment suggests a somewhat more open tone compared with the league’s earlier posture, which focused heavily on integrity and regulatory concerns tied to event contract trading. In a 2025 letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), NBA officials warned that sports prediction markets could pose integrity risks to professional sports and urged stronger oversight, framing the products as closely aligned with traditional betting while stopping short of outright opposition.
Prediction markets were also part of the conversation behind the scenes during NBA All-Star Weekend, where Kalshi executives Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara joined Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan in an off-the-record panel discussion about event contract trading at the NBA’s annual tech summit alongside major betting industry stakeholders.
Giannis investment brings prediction markets into NBA spotlight
Antetokounmpo’s connection to prediction markets became public recently, when Kalshi announced on Feb. 6 that the Bucks star, through his investment and business-holding company Ante, Inc., had joined the regulated exchange as a shareholder. The company said the partnership would include appearances at live events and marketing initiatives, while noting that Antetokounmpo will be barred from trading markets tied to the NBA under the platform’s insider trading rules.
Antetokounmpo posted on X about the investment, writing, “The internet is full of opinions. I decided it was time to make some of my own.”
Kalshi’s Mansour framed the deal as a long-term brand alignment rather than a purely financial investment.
“Giannis is a legend,” the CEO and cofounder said in the news release. “He’s exactly the type of long-term partner we want to align our growing brand with, and we couldn’t be happier he’s on board.”
Antetokounmpo is not the first NBA player tied to the platform. In October 2025, Mansour said in a post on X that Kevin Durant is also an investor in Kalshi, making him the only other active NBA player publicly linked to a prediction exchange.
League rules allow investment but integrity questions persist
Silver downplayed concerns about Antetokounmpo’s investment in his comments during NBA All-Star Weekend, stressing that the stake falls well within league rules.
“In the case of Giannis, from what I understand, it’s a minuscule investment, much smaller than 1%,” Silver said, referring to limits in the NBA’s collectively-bargained policy allowing players to hold small stakes in gambling-related companies. He added that the league is applying the same rules for prediction market platform investments.
That permissive posture toward player investments stems from the NBA’s 2023 collective bargaining agreement, which allows players to own limited, non-controlling stakes in sports betting or related companies provided they do not participate in markets tied directly to NBA outcomes.
News of Antetokounmpo’s investment has drawn a mixed response on social media and in the press. In an ESPN opinion column, writer Dan Wetzel argued prediction markets are “the last thing professional sports leagues need” and warned that athlete ownership could become more common. The column framed Antetokounmpo’s involvement as potentially problematic from an optics standpoint, suggesting financial ties between active players and betting-adjacent companies could raise integrity questions even when league rules are followed.
Silver indicated his bigger concern extends beyond any individual investment or platform to the rapid expansion of betting tied to the NBA worldwide. He noted that legalized wagering on NBA games now exists in dozens of jurisdictions in the United States and roughly 80 countries globally, describing the “totality of all this betting” as something the league continues to monitor, according to Front Office Sports.
Other sports leagues already moving into prediction markets
While the NBA has emphasized monitoring and regulatory clarity, several other major sports organizations have already begun experimenting with direct partnerships. The NHL became the first major U.S. league to strike multiyear agreements with top prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket in 2025, giving the companies access to official league data, marketing visibility, and the ability to use NHL branding.
Major League Soccer followed more recently, naming Polymarket its official and exclusive prediction market partner in a deal that includes integration across league events such as the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Cup, and the Leagues Cup, with plans for fan-engagement content tied to market odds.
The UFC has also moved directly into the prediction market space. Its multiyear partnership with Polymarket made the platform the fight league’s exclusive prediction market partner last year, in a deal that includes integration of real-time market odds into match broadcasts.
MLB, NFL signal gradual shift on prediction markets after early caution
Like the NBA, both Major League Baseball and the NFL have approached prediction markets cautiously, emphasizing integrity and regulatory concerns over commercial potential.
MLB has expressed integrity issues around sports event contract trading to federal regulators and warned players that league gambling rules apply to prediction markets. The NFL has voiced similar concerns, submitting written comments to Congress saying it is “particularly troubled” by the rise of sports prediction markets and warning that contracts tied to game outcomes could pose integrity risks if they expand outside traditional sportsbook regulatory safeguards, according to ESPN.
More recently, however, there are signs that those stances may be evolving.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said earlier this month that the league is considering potential business relationships with prediction platforms, a notable shift from its prior messaging. The comments suggest the league is increasingly weighing potential commercial and data-related benefits alongside compliance concerns as event contract platforms gain visibility.
The NFL had been guarded in public comments about prediction markets, but recent comments suggest a somewhat more measured stance. NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller told Front Office Sports that he views the sector as “innovative” and “dynamic,” while stressing the league is watching how regulation develops before deciding how to engage.
Taken together with partnerships already announced by the NHL, MLS, and the UFC, the trajectory suggests prediction markets are increasingly becoming a more normalized part of the sports betting landscape. Greater league engagement could provide prediction platforms with added legitimacy, data access, and broader mainstream exposure as the category continues to develop.
Future of sports event contracts remains uncertain
Even as pro sports leagues explore prediction market partnerships, the regulatory outlook for sports event contracts remains unsettled. Several states have questioned whether federally regulated prediction markets fall outside traditional sports betting frameworks, raising jurisdictional conflicts between federal oversight and state gambling authorities. Those tensions have created uncertainty for leagues and operators about how broadly the products can expand.
That uncertainty, and any eventual resolution, will ultimately shape how deeply sports organizations engage. League officials have increasingly suggested that the future of prediction markets tied to sports outcomes will depend less on league policy than on regulatory clarity emerging from courts, lawmakers, and federal agencies.
Silver made that point directly during All-Star Weekend discussions, saying, “Whether prediction markets are allowed to go forward in the form they’re in now will, I think, be ultimately an issue for the courts and for Congress.”
