Goodell: NFL Will Be "Patient" on Prediction Market Deals
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week that the league is taking a deliberately cautious approach to prediction market partnerships, telling reporters the NFL would rather wait for stronger regulatory guardrails than rush into deals with exchanges like Kalshi and Polymarket. The comments, reported by CNBC and relayed by trade outlet Legal Sports Report on September 14, come after major prediction market operators complied with a second NFL letter asking them to drop what the league called "objectionable" contracts ahead of Week 1.
What Goodell said
Goodell characterized ongoing talks with prediction market operators as open but unresolved, saying the league is "continuing to have conversations with them" and that such platforms "could be potential partners at some point in the future." On timing, he added: "We don't feel like we have to be first in this. We feel like we're going to be right, and the best thing to do is be patient." According to the report, Polymarket withdrew player-participation markets weeks before Week 1, Kalshi removed similar contracts before the season started, and smaller exchange Novig had complied with the league's requests from the outset.
Why it matters
The comments land alongside new federal rulemaking: the CFTC proposed changes in June flagging four categories of contracts as problematic — player injuries, officiating outcomes, micro-bets, and pre-collegiate sports — and has moved to require exchanges to consult sports leagues before certifying new sports-linked markets. Kalshi, meanwhile, remains under court-ordered restrictions on sports contracts in several states, including Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Utah, and Washington. Goodell's public preference for regulatory clarity before any formal NFL–prediction market partnership suggests the league sees the current legal patchwork, not lack of interest, as the main obstacle — a dynamic that will keep shaping how aggressively exchanges court professional leagues through the rest of this season.