NFL Puts Prediction-Market Advertising Ban on Record for First Time

The NFL has confirmed on the record for the first time that all prediction-market advertising is prohibited during its games, with the ban extending to in-stadium signage, club sponsorships and player endorsements. Tim Schlittner, the league’s director of communications, detailed the policy in emailed comments to Gambling Insider published on September 15, 2026.

“All prediction market advertising during NFL games is prohibited,” Schlittner said in the comments. “This prohibition extends to in-stadium signage, club sponsorships, and player endorsements.”

The confirmation is the first time the league has stated the policy on the record. Public understanding of it had rested on a January 2026 report by Front Office Sports that cited an anonymous source who said prediction markets sat on the league’s unpublished list of prohibited advertising categories alongside tobacco, pornography and firearms, Gambling Insider reported. The list is not public, and the league had neither published nor commented on it. Renie Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, had previously said only that prediction markets were not an area the league was considering commercially at the time.

Rules for Sportsbook Partners

The league also set out, for the first time, the rules that apply to the sportsbooks it does permit to advertise during its games.

“During NFL games, sportsbook partners must advertise one of their approved products,” Schlittner said. “They cannot do general advertising. They cannot advertise prediction markets.”

Partners are also required to license official league data, a requirement Schlittner described as part of the league’s game-integrity protocols. All three of the league’s official sportsbook partners, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Betting and Gaming, operate prediction markets, the report noted.

DraftKings senior director of communications Stephen Miraglia told Gambling Insider on a call that the NFL provides advertising guidelines to its partners for creative that airs during league programming, and that the league has made clear partners must comply with them. He said DraftKings follows that direction and that the spots the company airs in NFL windows are approved by the league.

Miraglia said the operator’s nationwide Take Your Game Anywhere brand campaign, launched August 31, 2026, does not run in NFL windows, though it can air outside them. The campaign is built on the premise that the company’s sportsbook and predictions products together make it reachable in all 50 states. He also said the league was not consulted before DraftKings ran a state-specific Predictions campaign in California, Texas, Georgia and Florida on August 25, 2026, because that campaign was never meant to run during NFL programming.

Prediction-Market Deals at Other Leagues

The NHL announced multiyear US agreements on October 22, 2025, naming both Kalshi and Polymarket official prediction market partners. Those deals give the two companies access to official NHL proprietary data and rights to use league marks, logos and official designations on their platforms and products. Both companies also receive brand exposure through Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards and blue-line virtual signage on national broadcasts, including regular-season national games, Stanley Cup Playoffs games and Winter Classic and Stadium Series broadcasts.

Major League Baseball made Polymarket its official prediction market in March 2026, and Major League Soccer did the same in January 2026, according to the Gambling Insider report. Kalshi has signed five MLB clubs for signage, radio and, at Dodger Stadium, a bar’s naming rights, placements the report described as the kind the NFL policy prohibits. The NBA has signed no prediction-market deal.

The NFL’s Sportsbook Agreements

The league’s own multiyear agreements with three sports betting operators were announced by the NFL ahead of the 2026 season. DraftKings and FanDuel, partners in the category since 2021, each signed multi-year deals, while Fanatics Betting and Gaming signed a multi-year agreement that expands a relationship already covering collectibles and official league merchandise.

Under the agreements, the three partners can use NFL marks within the sports betting category and promote online and retail sports betting. They receive a presence at tentpole events such as the Super Bowl and NFL Draft, hospitality and VIP experiences and integrations across NFL-owned digital media, along with access to real-time official play-by-play statistics, Next Gen Stats and BetVision through Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive data distribution partner.

The NFL said all three partners agreed to adhere to its core game-integrity policies and to work together to prohibit wagers the league finds objectionable, including bets tied to officiating and injuries and wagers that are knowable in advance or easily manipulated by a single person. DraftKings also continues as the league’s official daily fantasy sports partner, a role it has held since 2019, and Fanatics becomes an official online casino marketing partner of the league.

In July 2026, the NFL told the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that proposed prediction-market rules fell well short, Gambling Insider reported. On September 3, 2026, chief compliance officer Sabrina Perel wrote to exchanges regarding contracts the league regards as objectionable.