CFTC and NHL Add Oversight Layer to Hockey Prediction Markets

The National Hockey League has signed an integrity-sharing agreement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, adding a regulatory layer to a sports prediction market sector moving closer to mainstream leagues.

The memorandum of understanding gives the CFTC and NHL a formal path to exchange confidential information, designate representatives and coordinate on issues tied to professional hockey and related event contracts traded on CFTC-regulated exchanges. The agency said the agreement is meant to protect the integrity of professional hockey while supporting fair and transparent prediction markets.

The agreement was signed by CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Selig said the MOU is another step toward protecting sports integrity and market participants from insider trading, fraud and other abuses. Bettman said integrity remains central to the trust fans and partners place in the league, and that the agreement strengthens the NHL’s ability to address potential risks.

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The NHL is one of the more active major sports leagues around prediction markets. It has official partnerships with both Polymarket and Kalshi, two platforms at the center of the event-contract boom. The CFTC also signed a similar agreement with Major League Baseball in March, giving the NHL memo a broader policy backdrop.

Sports event contracts have become a sharper regulatory issue as prediction markets and betting-like products converge around real games. The CFTC oversees federally regulated event contracts, while leagues are trying to avoid the same risks that have long shaped sports betting oversight: suspicious trading patterns, misuse of nonpublic information and concerns about match integrity.

The hockey agreement does not settle the debate over how far sports contracts should extend. It does show that leagues and regulators are starting to build formal monitoring channels before these markets get much larger.

For crypto-native prediction platforms, the message is clear enough: access to mainstream sports may increasingly come with compliance, surveillance and league-level information sharing attached.