NBA Commissioner wants prediction market data to strengthen integrity

• The NBA wants to access prediction market information to stave off insider trading
• Silver argues that no matter whether it concerns sports betting or prediction market trading, integrity is important
• The CFTC has recently announced plans to further and better distinguish between the two

National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver has long championed the integrity of sports and basketball in particular, spearheading the association through the arrival of sports betting, some of its biggest match-fixing scandals - and now the challenge posed by prediction markets and event contracts.

NBA's Commissioner wants access to prediction markets data

​Silver argues that the association would benefit immensely from accessing prediction markets data, which can help it keep an eye out for potential insider trading, with the comments arriving at a time when the National Football League (NFL) filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) last week.

​The amicus brief asks SCOTUS to clearly define sports event contracts, weighing in on whether they constitute federally regulated swaps, as proposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), or whether they are within the remit of state gaming regulators instead.

​The NFL has also urged the CFTC to adopt rules that put the minimum legal age of trading on sports event contracts at 21, which is what at least several states use to allow legacy sports betting.

​Speaking to CNBC’s Contessa Brewer in a Squak Box interview, Silver argued that the matter of integrity remained unchanged, whether it concerned sports betting in its purest form, or event contracts which arguably pose the same challenge.

Prediction markets or sports gambling - the core issue remains unchanged

​"Whether it’s called a prediction market, whether it’s sports betting, it’s the same issues for our league, and I think for all the leagues, there are issues around integrity first and foremost. We want access to that data. We also want control of the market," Silver told Brewer.

​Silver’s interview and remarks come following an interim rule by the CFTC, which outright prohibits casino-style gambling products.

In the same vein, the federal regulator has also put forward a new proposal, which seeks to clearly establish event contracts as swaps. The rule also wants to codify sports, entertainment, weather, and politics as legitimate markets.

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