The National Football League has picked a side in the fight over prediction markets. In a 24-page brief filed Thursday, the NFL urged the Supreme Court to back state gambling regulators, who argue that these sports contracts should follow the same rules as traditional bets.
The NFL argued that states have long regulated gambling and that sports prediction contracts are bets on game outcomes instead of tools that help businesses protect themselves from financial losses. It pointed to the nearly $2 billion traded on NFL games through prediction market platforms alone on the opening Sunday of the 2026 season—more than half of the day’s total prediction market volume—and urged the Supreme Court to act “before another NFL season goes by.” The top court has not agreed to hear the case, but it is widely expected to take up the matter next year.
