Two major professional sports leagues have signed commercial agreements with sports betting platforms Polymarket and Kalshi — but the unions representing their players are fighting the deals in Washington, creating a rare split between league offices and athlete representatives.
The commercial agreements
The National Hockey League and Major League Baseball each struck deals with Polymarket and Kalshi, platforms that allow users to place bets on the outcome of games and other event-based contracts. The partnerships give the leagues a financial stake in the growing market for sports-related prediction contracts, which operate outside traditional sportsbooks.
Neither league disclosed the financial terms of the agreements. But the moves signal that NHL and MLB see the platforms as a new revenue stream, separate from the state-regulated sports betting partnerships they already maintain with companies like FanDuel and DraftKings.
Why the unions are pushing back
The NHL Players' Association and the Major League Baseball Players Association have filed petitions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission asking the agency to prohibit specific sports event contracts on platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. The unions argue that allowing betting on individual player performance or game outcomes puts athletes at risk — potentially opening the door to harassment, pressure, or worse.
Their position puts them directly at odds with the leagues, which have embraced the platforms commercially. The petitions ask the CFTC to use its authority under the Commodity Exchange Act to block contracts that the unions say could harm the integrity of the games and the well-being of the players.
It’s not the first time the unions have taken a stand on sports betting. Both the NHLPA and MLBPA have previously expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of legal wagering since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in 2018. But this is the first time they’ve formally asked a regulator to step in against a specific type of contract — and against their own employers’ business partners.
What the CFTC faces
The CFTC is now sitting on a request that pits two powerful sports leagues against the unions that represent their players. The agency has broad authority over event contracts traded on designated contract markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. But it rarely intervenes in sports betting disputes, which have mostly been left to state regulators.
Polymarket and Kalshi operate differently from state-licensed sportsbooks. They use a derivatives-style structure where users buy and sell contracts whose value depends on whether a specific event occurs — like a player scoring a goal or a team winning a series. That structure brings them under CFTC jurisdiction, but the agency has so far taken a hands-off approach.
The unions want that to change. Their petitions argue that the contracts are “contrary to the public interest” under the law, a standard the CFTC must meet to ban them. The leagues haven’t publicly commented on the petitions, but their commercial agreements suggest they believe the contracts are lawful and beneficial.
No timeline has been set for a CFTC decision. The agency could open a formal rulemaking, issue an order, or simply decline to act. For now, the fight is between the men who play the games and the executives who run them — with the regulator caught in the middle.
