MLB Teams Up with Betting Platform, Federal Regulators to Monitor Game Integrity

Major League Baseball has formed a new partnership with prediction market platform Polymarket and reached an agreement with federal regulators to protect baseball's integrity. The deals come as sports leagues navigate the rapidly expanding world of prediction markets and sports gambling.

Major League Baseball has forged a new alliance with prediction market platform Polymarket while simultaneously establishing a formal agreement with federal regulators to safeguard the sport’s integrity.

The league announced Thursday it has created a memorandum of understanding with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael S. Selig to “further protect the integrity of baseball by ensuring swift response to incidents and anticipating emerging trends more strongly.”

Sports organizations have expressed growing unease about prediction markets as they already grapple with challenges from legalized sports betting. Unlike regulated sportsbooks that must comply with state oversight, prediction market operators contend their trading activities — known as event contracts — constitute derivative markets under CFTC authority.

Twelve months ago, MLB wrote to the commission requesting robust integrity safeguards.

“The new agreements that we formed with Polymarket and the CFTC are imperative steps in proactively managing the new and rapidly growing prediction market space,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Protecting the integrity of the game on the field is our top priority. By engaging in this community, we are able to work together to create clear boundaries with the goal of mitigating risk while providing fan engagement opportunities.”

The Polymarket deal grants the platform and its partners exclusive rights to use MLB branding in their prediction market offerings. Polymarket will also receive official league statistics through Sportradar, MLB’s designated worldwide data distributor for prediction markets.

The federal agreement establishes information sharing between MLB and the CFTC concerning baseball integrity issues and related prediction markets. All exchanged data will remain confidential, with appointed officials holding regular meetings.

“We’ve committed to work together to protect the integrity and resilience of prediction markets relating to professional baseball,” Selig said on X. “Through this partnership, the @CFTC is well-positioned to add additional tools to protect our markets from fraud, manipulation, and other abuses. Thanks to @MLB and Commissioner Manfred for working with us to protect the integrity of these growing markets.

Despite its exclusive arrangement with Polymarket, MLB emphasized its desire to establish integrity frameworks with all prediction market platforms offering baseball-related contracts. These platforms must incorporate required integrity measures into their operating rules.

The expanding presence of sports content on prediction markets has created new income streams for leagues while simultaneously raising regulatory questions about market oversight.

Prediction markets allow users to trade on future event outcomes through straightforward yes-or-no wagering options.

The NHL announced multi-year partnerships with both Polymarket and Kalshi, another prominent prediction market operator, in October. Major League Soccer revealed its Polymarket partnership on January 26. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo disclosed last month that he has acquired an ownership stake in Kalshi.

MLB owners received a briefing about prediction markets during their recent meetings in Florida.