NBA, NFL, MLB Stars Demand Ban on Betting ‘Unders’
▼ Summary
– Sports unions for major professional leagues are urging the CFTC to ban prediction market bets on player underperformance or injury, citing risks of abusive behavior toward athletes.
– The unions also request a ban on bets related to specific broadcast phrases, like “concussion,” viewing them as indirect wagers on negative outcomes.
– Jontay Porter pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2024 for a betting scandal involving limiting his own game participation, and the DOJ charged other NBA players for using private medical information for profit.
– The unions want the CFTC to prohibit unauthorized use of player health data, while the NBA separately asks for a minimum betting age of 21 (up from 18 on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket).
– The CFTC has sued five states for attempting to regulate prediction markets, asserting its own regulatory authority over such platforms.
The unions representing players in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLS are urging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prohibit prediction market platforms from allowing wagers on a player’s underperformance or injury, according to a report from Sports Business Journal. In an official letter, the unions emphasize the need for “appropriate regulations” to shield athletes and their families from “abusive and harassing behavior.”
This request comes in response to the CFTC’s call for public input on how to oversee prediction markets, including those run by Kalshi and Polymarket. Beyond banning “under” bets, the unions also want the CFTC to stop people from wagering on whether specific words or phrases,such as “concussion”,are uttered during a broadcast. They argue this is “another way of betting on a negative outcome.”
The push for stricter rules follows a high-profile scandal in 2024 involving Jontay Porter, a former center for the Toronto Raptors. Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a betting scheme where he “limited his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes,” the NBA stated. That same year, the U. S. Department of Justice charged several current and former NBA players with “using private locker room and medical information to enrich themselves.”
In their letter, the sports unions call on the CFTC to ban the “unauthorized use” of any data related to a player’s injury, illness, performance metrics, or other health details. Separately, the NBA has requested that prediction market betting be restricted to people over 21. Currently, Kalshi and Polymarket allow users aged 18 and older to participate.
As prediction markets gain traction, the CFTC has actively challenged states attempting to regulate these platforms. The agency has filed lawsuits against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Wisconsin, accusing them of infringing on the CFTC’s “regulatory authority” over prediction betting markets by imposing their own rules.
(Source: The Verge)
