The National Football League is intensifying pressure on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, submitting a letter calling for major upgrades to the proposed rules on sports event contracts. Addressing CFTC Chair Michael Selig, the league insists that the current CFTC rules draft for sports events leaves dangerous gaps that threaten game integrity and expose traders. NFL Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs Brendon Plack signed the document and made clear that protecting the integrity of games remains the top priority.
In the letter, the NFL stresses that this integrity is essential for the orderly handling of event contracts tied to its contests and for the protection of traders. While the league credits the CFTC for adopting some earlier suggestions, it states the proposals still fall significantly short. The timing coincides with the close of the public comment period on the agency’s June rulemaking release.
Plack’s submission builds directly on the league’s May letter and maintains its consistent demand for outright bans on certain contract types rather than CFTC reviews with flexibility for granting. Rapid growth in sports event contract volumes has heightened the urgency of these requests as prediction markets begin to compete directly with, and even overtake, many sports betting platforms.
Restrictions Sought on Easily Manipulated and Objectionable Contracts
The NFL seeks categorical bans on sports prediction contracts that a single person can easily influence. Examples include whether a kicker misses a field goal or a quarterback’s first pass falls incomplete. Such offerings, the letter warns, open the door to unfair advantages that damage the appearance of fair play and weaken trust among traders.
Officiating contracts covering penalties, replay results, and challenges also face strong opposition from the NFL. The league further targets markets associated with player injuries, fan safety, and misconduct, deeming them inherently objectionable. The NFL claims these categories harm the long-term health of the markets and the sport itself.
Knowable-in-advance contracts stand out as a top priority for prohibition. These include the first play of a game, coaching decisions, roster moves, personnel changes, and live pick-by-pick draft selections. Allowing trading on privately held information before it becomes public creates clear insider edges and incentives for such trading.
For player-performance contracts such as props, micro-props, and parlays, the NFL wants a mandatory pre-approval process. The CFTC would clear each one after giving leagues notice and a chance to object. Awards markets that rely on discretionary voting, such as Offensive Player of the Year, would be excluded entirely to keep contracts focused on objective on-the-field results rather than extraneous events around the sport.
Push for Extended Review Windows and Stronger Insider Trading Measures
The NFL criticizes the CFTC’s proposed 10-day review window as too short, given the scale of recent growth in trading volume. Contract counts rose from roughly 1,600 in April 2025 to about 162,000 a year later, with more than 8,000 distinct markets trading by May 2026. A longer window would let regulators examine risks before trading starts.
The CFTC draft notice is also silent on existing contracts. The league asks for explicit confirmation that all current listings must meet any strengthened standards, rather than automatically receive grandfathered protection.
On insider trading, the NFL wants clear rules that treat the use of material non-public information gained in the course of duties to a league, team, or governing body as a manipulative practice. Instead of platform self-policing, it recommends mandatory league-specific lists of prohibited traders that every exchange must enforce. Somebody banned from NFL markets on Kashi due to inappropriate trading activity should be automatically banned on every other platform as well.
The letter also repeats calls for a ban on margin trading in sports contracts, tighter advertising limits, and a complete prohibition on tokenizing sports event contracts, including secondary-market trading in them.
Consumer Safeguards Including Age Limits and Branding Protections
Consumer protection forms a major part of the NFL’s demands. The league calls for a nationwide minimum age of 21 for trading sports event contracts, noting that many platforms currently allow access at 18. A centralized self-exclusion registry would let individuals block themselves across all platforms if they feel the need to override their compulsion.
Additional requests include bans on using credit in sports markets and strict limits on unauthorized league or team branding that could imply official endorsement. These steps aim to raise standards and reduce risks for traders as volumes continue to climb.
It’s a rather detailed wish list of no-go’s from the NFL.
Coverage in the Crypto Times highlighted a rebuttal by crypto industry groups that, on the same day, urged the CFTC to streamline, not tighten, the rules. The rules against tokenized sports contracts would greatly impact on-chain platforms.
This is the NFL’s second formal submission this year. An earlier May letter already sought bans on injury-linked and officiating contracts along with the age minimum.
The CFTC must now weigh these recommendations against competing comments as it revises the sports event contract rules. The NFL emphasizes that its input does not endorse the markets and questions whether game outcomes properly qualify as derivatives focused on price risk or discovery. A general non-positive comment about these predictions. Though worth noting, the NFL has previously maintained official partnerships with DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars sportsbooks. They are currently revisiting such deals since their natural expiration.
References
- NFL urges CFTC to strengthen rules on sports prediction markets: report | The Block
- NFL Pushes CFTC for Sports Contract Bans as Crypto Industry Backs the Rules | Crypto Times
- News: NFL Letter On Prediction Markets Says Proposed CFTC Rules ‘Fall Significantly Short’ | The Closing Line
- Dustin Gouker post on NFL letter to CFTC | X
- NFL submits public comment on CFTC’s proposed prediction market rules | Sports Business Journal
- NFL Sounds Alarm on ‘Objectionable’ Prediction Markets | Front Office Sports
- Prediction markets: NFL letter wants certain betting contracts banned | CNBC
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