Key Takeaways
The CFTC and NHL signed an MOU on Could 21, 2026, creating a proper framework for confidential info sharing.NHL turned the primary main U.S. professional sports activities league to companion with each Kalshi and Polymarket in October 2025.CFTC Chairman Michael Selig alerts extra league agreements forward as prediction markets face federal oversight growth.
CFTC Chairman Selig Indicators NHL Settlement to Block Insider Buying and selling in Sports activities Markets
The settlement establishes designated representatives on each side who will talk usually, share info on a confidential foundation, and coordinate responses to integrity issues tied to NHL occasion contracts traded on CFTC-regulated exchanges.
The MOU covers occasion contracts, the monetary devices that enable merchants to take positions on hockey sport outcomes. These contracts are traded on platforms equivalent to Kalshi and Polymarket, which the CFTC oversees as Designated Contract Markets below the Commodity Alternate Act.
“I’m proud the CFTC and NHL have formally signed an MOU, furthering the company’s dedication to enhance knowledge sharing between skilled sports activities leagues and the Fee,” CFTC Chairman Michael Selig remarked within the press launch.
The regulator added:
“This settlement is one other step towards safeguarding the integrity of sports activities and defending market individuals in prediction markets from insider buying and selling, fraud, and different abuses. I applaud NHL Commissioner Bettman for collaborating with the CFTC and taking a number one position in defending the integrity {of professional} hockey in our markets.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman emphasised that integrity monitoring programs have been already working earlier than this settlement. The MOU provides a proper coordination layer between the league and federal regulators, extending the protections already in place by means of its business partnerships.
“Integrity has at all times been and stays paramount to the NHL and elementary to the belief our followers and companions place in our sport,” Bettman acknowledged. “Our settlement with the CFTC enhances the excellent integrity monitoring programs already in place and strengthens our capacity to determine, deter, and handle potential dangers.”
The NHL entered prediction markets in October 2025, changing into the primary main U.S. skilled sports activities league to signal multiyear licensing agreements with each Kalshi and Polymarket. These offers gave each platforms entry to official NHL knowledge for contract settlement and rights to make use of league marks and logos.
In trade, the NHL retained enter over which markets are supplied, with the flexibility to request removing of contracts deemed high-risk or inappropriate, equivalent to these tied to particular person participant outcomes.
The NHL’s integrity monitoring in these partnerships depends on Sportradar knowledge feeds and IC360 suspicious exercise monitoring, the identical instruments used for conventional sportsbook oversight. The brand new MOU with the CFTC builds on that basis by including a direct federal regulatory channel.
The settlement is modeled on an analogous MOU the CFTC signed with Main League Baseball (MLB) on March 19, the primary formal pact of its type between the fee and a significant sports activities league. The NHL deal follows the identical normal framework: common conferences, confidential info sharing, and coordinated responses to potential market abuses.
Prediction markets have confronted scrutiny from participant unions and different stakeholders. The NHL Gamers Affiliation joined different leagues’ unions in urging the CFTC to ban athletes and crew personnel from buying and selling on their very own leagues and to dam contracts tied to participant accidents or penalties. The American Gaming Affiliation has additionally raised issues, calling the NHL’s business platform offers problematic and arguing they danger bypassing state playing rules and tax buildings.
The CFTC has pursued enforcement actions towards a number of states that tried to dam prediction markets working below federal jurisdiction, together with Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, and New York. Chairman Selig has defended the company’s authority and continued to push for league cooperation and platform compliance as a centerpiece of its oversight strategy.
The NHL’s twin position as each a business companion of prediction market platforms and a signatory to a federal integrity settlement displays how main sports activities leagues are navigating a regulatory setting that has moved sooner than present frameworks anticipated.
No manipulation incidents particular to NHL occasion contracts have been reported in current occasions. Each the CFTC and the NHL framed the MOU as a safety measure slightly than a response to any recognized wrongdoing.
