Kalshi has advertised its sports prediction markets on social media this month using NFL and NFL Players Association imagery without consent, while Polymarket has shared some of the league’s markings in its app without permission.
The companies are doing this as the NFL measures its long-term approach to prediction markets, which have emerged as a fast-growing alternative to traditional sportsbooks and operate outside state regulations.
Last week, a Kalshi promo included the logos of the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks beside photos of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III. Beneath those images were the platform’s odds for who would win Sunday’s Week 1 matchup. The ad’s tagline was “Bet on football legally.”
Other Kalshi advertisements specifically used the wording “NFL,” and one included the trademarked term “Super Bowl,” which the league in the past has been notoriously aggressive in safeguarding.
An NFL spokesperson told Sportico that “we have no business agreement with Kalshi.”
An NFLPA spokesperson said their organization doesn’t have a partnership with Kalshi, either, adding that the NFLPA is “looking into this marketing material to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Kalshi’s advertisements with NFL markings contrast how it has managed its app, where it has been more careful with intellectual property since launching sports contracts in January. Kalshi’s app referred to 49ers-Seahawks as “the San Francisco vs Seattle professional football game” with no mention of team names, logos or other identifiers. Kalshi placed generic football helmets next to the city names on the page where users could buy and sell contracts connected to the outcome of the game.
When asked directly about its use of NFL-related marks in its advertisements, a Kalshi official wrote in an email, “As we have said for months, we want to work with all of the leagues on addressing their concerns and are speaking to many of them currently.” The official did not respond to two follow-up emails again asking them to specifically address the ads.
Polymarket, not yet available in the U.S. but gearing up for launch, has been using NFL team names (without logos) and pictures of NFL players, such as Shedeur Sanders and Terry McLaurin, within its app for international customers. Neither the NFL nor NFLPA have relationships with Polymarket, and it’s unclear whether Polymarket will remove the branding and player likenesses once it goes live in America. Polymarket did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, another major U.S. sports union, the Major League Baseball Players Association, sued multiple sportsbooks for allegedly using images of member players without permission in a promotional capacity.
Kalshi’s main source of trading volume is sports (it also has contracts related to politics and culture), adding importance to this NFL season as competition heats up among new prediction market platforms. Right now, Kalshi is operating under the oversight of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than less-welcoming state gambling regulators. Polymarket will do the same when it opens up to the U.S. public.
On a call with reporters last month, David Highhill, the NFL’s general manager of sports betting, suggested the league was willing to work with prediction market operators—but only if they first met the infrastructure demands the NFL makes of sportsbooks. The league views prediction markets as a form of sports betting.
The NFL’s asks include Kalshi and Polymarket buying their official data through distributor Genius Sports, implementing specific responsible gaming measures to limit addiction risk and adding integrity monitoring to protect against match-fixing.
“What’s important about the sports betting markets right now that are legal is that they have robust protections that include information sharing between sportsbooks and the leagues,” Highhill said.
Kalshi, valued at about $2 billion, has voiced concerns about the associated costs of meeting standard sportsbook practices. For instance, it has argued in court that a deal with a geolocation service to pinpoint where customer wagers come from would be a crippling expense. The New York-headquartered firm says it hosts a financial marketplace, not gambling, and therefore should not need to meet sports betting industry mandates.
Still, Kalshi has taken some steps to align with the NFL’s wishes. Since March, it has worked with IC360, the integrity monitoring service that has flagged many of the major betting scandals in sports over the past couple of years.
Unlike Polymarket, Kalshi also has some responsible gaming guardrails in its app, such as self-imposed trading breaks, though there are fewer of them compared with most mobile sportsbooks and they are less prominent.
