Prediction markets and the NCAA will likely be at odds with each other for the foreseeable future.
Kalshi, the leading prediction market exchange in the United States, which legally offers trading on how real-life events (including sports) will transpire, recently filed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to allow wagering on whether a college athlete will or won’t enter the transfer portal.
The company confirmed to The Post that contracts regarding whether a player would enter the transfer portal were indeed ratified, likely to the NCAA’s ire.
“The NCAA vehemently opposes college sports prediction markets,” NCAA president Charlie Baker told ESPN. “It is already bad enough that student-athletes face harassment and abuse for lost bets on game performance, and now Kalshi wants to offer bets on their transfer decisions and status. This is absolutely unacceptable and would place even greater pressure on student-athletes while threatening competition integrity and recruiting processes.”
The “Yes” side would win if a player publicly states their intention to enter the transfer portal, with “No” presumably being a winning bet if the portal closes with no movement from that player.
A Kalshi spokesperson responded to the NCAA’s critical remarks and added that the company may never actually offer these markets.
“It’s inaccurate to say we are unregulated,” the spokesperson told The Post. “We are a federally regulated exchange, governed by the Commodity Exchange Act and its hundreds of regulations. We as a company also have comprehensive internal policies to address trading integrity and responsibility issues, including in-house and third-party surveillance systems that monitor trading activity. We run Know-Your-Customer checks on everyone who trades on our platform.”
Kalshi and other prediction markets offer trading on a wide range of markets, including Over/Under bets on weather temperatures, snowfall, elections and more.
Prediction markets also offer trading on which teams professional athletes will sign with during free agency or even the trade deadline.
The NCAA argues that these are amateur athletes, not professionals, although the student-athletes are now paid in many cases.
“Their decisions and future should not be gambled with, especially in an unregulated marketplace that does not follow any rules of legitimate sports betting operators,” Baker said, per ESPN.
The transfer portal is mostly the Wild West, considering players come and go each season, with player movement rampant.
From Kalshi’s perspective, they have the same gambling integrity firm as most sportsbooks, Integrity Compliance 360.
Kalshi says they have “extensive surveillance systems, both in-house and third-party, that monitor for suspicious activity.”
The NCAA transfer portal is slated to open in January, and while Kalshi is not currently offering these contracts, that does not mean it won’t soon do so.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
