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What Will it Take for the NFL to Embrace Prediction Markets?

By jili tutorial · September 3, 2026

What Will It Take for the NFL to Embrace Prediction Markets?

The National Football League has a clear set of demands that prediction market exchanges must meet before any official partnership can be formed. Until then, brands are finding creative, unofficial ways to connect with football fans. Prediction markets are aggressively competing for customers this season, but none of those efforts will carry an NFL endorsement. You won’t see their ads during games or inside stadiums. Teams cannot sign sponsorship deals with these companies. Players are prohibited from promoting the products.

For the NFL to welcome prediction markets—as other professional leagues have done—these exchanges will have to comply with the league’s terms.

The NFL’s Demands: What Exchanges Must Address

Novig, a newcomer in the prediction market space, says its “Responsible Trading Framework,” announced last month, was developed independently of the NFL. Yet the guidelines appear to align with many of the league’s stated concerns. The framework includes a minimum age of 21, self-control tools for users, responsible marketing standards, monitoring for risky behavior, and consumer protections embedded in contracts.

In a July letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the NFL emphasized its worries about markets vulnerable to manipulation or insider trading. The league also listed advertising restrictions, the right to object to certain contracts, and the 21-year-old age minimum among its top priorities.

Negotiations between the NFL and prediction markets are ongoing, but an official partnership remains unlikely until operators meet these demands. Protecting the integrity of the sport is central to those discussions, according to Eric Foote, founder and CEO of VIG Partners, who is familiar with the league’s talks.

“There are four or five categories that the NFL is really going to push the envelope on,” Foote told Gambling Insider. “Until they get clear direction on most of those, I still see them sitting out through the course of this NFL season or a portion of it.”

Why a 21+ Age Standard Matters

The NFL wants a minimum age of 21 for prediction markets, matching the standard for national sports betting. Foote suspects this may have influenced Novig’s approach. “I think they’re kind of taking the playbook from the NFL and going that route to see what leverage they can get with the NFL and actually start at 21,” he said.

However, Novig founder Jacob Fortinsky clarified in an email that the framework was not a direct response to the league. “Our Responsible Trading Framework wasn’t developed in response to the NFL. We had been working on these standards before the NFL announced its guidelines. The same is true of our 21+ age standard. Novig has always been a 21+ platform, well before we became a federally regulated exchange. We respect and value the views of the NFL and other leagues on responsible participation, but ultimately these were decisions we made based on how we want to run our business and the standard we want to set for the industry. Our hope is that we can lead by example and create what we refer to as a race to the top.”

Are Other Prediction Markets On Board With 21+?

While Novig’s responsible gambling blueprint has earned praise across the industry—and could be a step toward NFL acceptance—other exchanges may resist. “I think it’s going to be really hard for prediction markets to go backwards on 18 to 21,” Foote commented.

Dean Sisun, co-founder and CEO of ProphetX, another sports-focused prediction market, shared his perspective. “I like a lot of what they did. I don’t know if I’m on board with the age requirement, to be honest, and that might sound bad at first, but these are fundamentally different instruments than gambling. So why should they succumb to the same rules that gambling has? I’ve also always believed that you can serve in the army at 18, but you can’t place a sports bet until you’re 21? You can trade options at 18, but you can’t trade in prediction markets until you’re 21? To me, that just fundamentally doesn’t make any sense, but I think a lot of what they’re doing is very good.”

How Prediction Markets Reach Fans Without Official Sponsorships

Major League Baseball (Polymarket, with a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC), the NHL (Kalshi and Polymarket, plus an MOU with the CFTC), and MLS (Polymarket) all have official relationships with prediction markets. A Kalshi deal with the NBA could be on the horizon, according to CEO Tarek Mansour.

But prediction market brands don’t necessarily need official marketing rights to connect with NFL fans. They are finding alternative paths. Eric Foote, who served as Chief Strategy Officer at PointsBet when the sportsbook had a formal NFL relationship, believes in the value of league partnerships but acknowledges there are many cost-effective ways to reach target audiences.

“It’s more challenging, but it’s more cost effective because they’re not paying the big fee to the NFL and they’re untying up those dollars to be able to invest them back in,” Foote said.

As any observant U.S. consumer can see, prediction markets are getting their message out. Representatives wearing Kalshi-branded apparel appear at games. Social media feeds buzz with NFL team logos and players, whether or not they have official permission. Ads pop up on apps from The Weather Channel to TeamReach, a platform for recreational and youth sports.

“They do it in very unconventional means,” Foote noted. “There are ways to go about marketing without having to go through [the NFL’s] official channels or use their official shield or team marks or Super Bowl marks or things that Fanatics gets in their deal… I’m seeing it on a daily basis where I live [in Hawaii], and I’m sure many others are seeing it on a regular basis, too.”