NCAA asks regulators to suspend collegiate prediction markets

The NCAA on Wednesday asked a federal regulatory body to block prediction markets from offering trading on college sports until more safeguards are in place.

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the growth of prediction markets poses a threat to the well-being of student-athletes as well as the integrity of competition.

“I urge you to suspend collegiate sports prediction markets until a more robust system with appropriate safeguards is implemented,” Baker wrote.

Baker identified several areas where he believes prediction markets need additional safeguards: age restrictions, advertising restrictions, stronger integrity monitoring, involvement of national governing bodies such as the NCAA, restrictions on prop bets, harm reduction resources, and anti-harassment measures.

Kalshi, a leading prediction markets company, uses IC360, a firm that monitors irregularities in the betting market and works with sports leagues, including the NCAA. Baker acknowledged that some prediction markets monitor integrity concerns, but said there is a need for “higher levels of scrutiny that do not exist in many prediction markets”, such as tracking the geolocation of punters. He also said that prediction market operators are not required to report integrity concerns to other operators through an intermediary – a requirement for sportsbooks in most states.

He said the NCAA is willing to work with the CFTC to develop these protections, which are in place for legal sportsbooks.

ESPN has contacted the CFTC and the Coalition for Prediction Markets, which represents several of the largest operators, for comment.

Baker also discussed the request in a speech Wednesday at the 2026 NCAA convention.

“The so-called prediction markets are offering what anyone can see as unregulated betting on college sports,” he said. “We need federal regulators to stabilize this market.”

In his speech, Baker cited the steps taken by Kalaashi to offer a market on the transfer portal as an example of why the NCAA needs federal intervention. In December, Kalshi informed the CFTC that it is self-certified market whether college athletes will enter the transfer portal. Although Kalshi said it had no immediate plans to begin offering trading on the portal, the decision drew sharp criticism from the NCAA.

Prediction markets, which allow users to trade on yes/no outcomes of events, including sports, have grown in popularity over the past year. While traditional sportsbooks operate in 39 states and the District of Columbia, where the betting age is typically 21, prediction markets are available to users 18 and older in all 50 states.

Oversight of prediction markets is a highly controversial legal issue. State gambling regulators, who oversee traditional sportsbooks, are locked in legal battles in several states with leading prediction market companies.

Those companies say they are not sportsbooks because users are not going against the house, but rather contracting with other users as opposed to the offer. While bookmakers take wigs or commission on losing bets, prediction markets make money from transaction fees, similar to brokers, and have no stake in the outcome.

The major sports leagues are still divided on the question of prediction markets. The NFL has expressed its concerns about the industry’s rise to prominence in Congress, while the NHL and UFC have signed agreements with Kalshi and prediction markets company PolyMarket.