MLB Signs Partnership Deal With Polymarket, Agrees to Share Info With CFTC
Credit: Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons
Major League Baseball has inked a pair of deals with prediction market stakeholders.
For one, the league struck a partnership deal with prediction market platform Polymarket. The deal is reminiscent of sportsbook agreements with leagues and teams following the nationwide repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which opened the door for legal sports betting in every state. Polymarket will gain the ability to use official league trademarks and data.
No monetary terms were disclosed.
Additionally, the league reached a “memorandum of understanding” with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates prediction markets. That agreement is meant to provide “a critical step towards a strong integrity framework within the prediction market space,” according to MLB’s presser.
Polymarket and MLB Make Deal
MLB’s deal with Polymarket marks the second time a major sports league has partnered with a prediction platform. The National Hockey League previously did so, jumping on board with both Polymarket and top competitor Kalshi.
MLB framed the partnership as driven by a desire to ensure integrity:
“A key component of the partnership between MLB and Polymarket will be establishing a comprehensive integrity framework, which includes working together to restrict markets that present an integrity risk to MLB, such as individual pitches, manager decisions, and umpire performance, among others. Polymarket will also integrate integrity controls into its US Rulebook to ensure all of its brokers are held to the same integrity standards.”
It’s not immediately clear whether the agreement has any bearing on Polymarket’s international cryptocurrency-based product, which isn’t accessible to U.S. customers. Polymarket US has yet to fire off a full launch. It was expected to do so several months ago but continues to only serve customers who join a waitlist.
MLB certainly remains on high alert for betting-related scandals following an ongoing high-profile case revolving around Cleveland Guardians pitchers who allegedly rigged prop outcomes. In the aftermath of that case, MLB came to agreements with several sportsbooks to limit betting on individual pitches to $200.
MLB’s press release makes it sound like such markets won’t appear on Polymarket.
The league also made sure to cover itself in case prediction markets’ court cases turn sour for the operators. The Polymarket deal reportedly includes language that would void it if courts rule that prediction markets violate state law.
Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi this week, kicking off the most high-stakes court battle regarding prediction markets yet.
MLB to Correspond With CFTC to Ensure Integrity
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the federal agency’s deal with a sports league “made history.”
“We’ve committed to work together to protect the integrity and resilience of prediction markets relating to professional baseball,” he wrote on social media.
As part of the deal, the two sides will regularly meet to share information and discuss best practices for ensuring the integrity of prediction markets relating to MLB.
“I hope that it goes without saying that our primary concern, always first in our minds, is protecting the integrity of the game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “I think in today’s world, it is really important not to be chasing developments but try to be involved and in front of those developments because our world is so fast moving.”
Selig swore in as the CFTC’s new head last December. He walked into a landscape fraught with conflict. After initially saying the CFTC would defer to the courts on the legality of sports prediction markets, Selig has ramped up the aggression in recent weeks. He promised the CFTC would vigorously defend sports prediction markets.
Image credit: Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons (license)
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