The NFL is Keeping Its Distance from Prediction Markets - For Now

The NFL is hell-bent on protecting "The Shield” at all times and isn’t about to let the current legal and regulatory uncertainty surrounding prediction markets put the league’s brand in harm’s way.But if that legal and regulatory uncertainty were to clear up - well, that may be a different story, then.

Key Takeaways

• Roger Goodell suggested the league will avoid prediction market partnerships until current legal and regulatory uncertainties are resolved.
• The NFL commissioner emphasized protecting the league's brand and game integrity, contrasting the league’s caution with the NHL’s willingness to partner with prediction market operators.
• Industry executives noted prediction markets function like European betting exchanges but remain small compared to sportsbooks, making them complementary rather than competitive.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on Wednesday at an investor event held by Genius Sports Ltd., a sports betting data technology company that is both a partner to and an investment of the league.

When asked about prediction markets, Goodell suggested his league is taking a wait-and-see approach before it does any business with the federally regulated exchanges.

"That's not something we're about to enter into,” Goodell said. 

Instead, the NFL is going to "see how things play out,” the commissioner explained, noting there are currently "a lot of legal challenges going on” involving prediction markets. 

Those challenges mostly center around the legality of sports event contracts, which prediction markets have begun offering over the past year, allowing the exchanges to facilitate de facto sports wagering in all 50 states. 

"We'd like to be first in the market in a lot of things, but in a lot of things, we're willing to say, ‘We're going to let things play out, we're going to decide is this something we want to do,'” Goodell said. "The risk to the brand is something that we take very seriously, and we won't risk that brand in something until we feel confident that we can do it and if we see it play out in a way that works for us.”

That goes for things like private-equity ownership of NFL teams, and it goes for sports betting and prediction markets as well, Goodell said. 

• https://www.covers.com/industry/genius-sports-nfl-goodell-prediction-markets-sports-betting-hesitance-december-2025