NFL rules push Barkley to exit Polymarket stake
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has sold his position in the prediction market after the league confirmed its gambling policy covers event-contract investments as well as sportsbooks.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has divested his stake in Polymarket after the NFL clarified that its gambling restrictions extend to prediction market investments and endorsements, according to Legal Sports Report.
"I am not in that right now," Barkley told Front Office Sports in an interview published Tuesday. "I am not allowed to be in that."
A profile of Barkley's investment portfolio published last year had revealed the Polymarket stake. He did not say exactly when he sold out of the position, but said the league had briefed players on the restrictions ahead of this season. "I was in it before, but no bueno," he said.
The NFL confirmed to Front Office Sports that players are barred from investing in or promoting sportsbooks or prediction markets, but it declined to comment on Barkley's case specifically. Polymarket also declined to comment.
The league notified players, coaches and staff in August 2025 that trading NFL event contracts would now fall under its gambling policy on the same terms as betting with a sportsbook.
The NFL has also taken its objections to prediction markets to the courts. Earlier this month it urged the US Supreme Court to resolve the legal fight over the products, arguing that states should keep authority to regulate sports-related contracts and that federal oversight has failed to protect game integrity.
The league accused the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and exchanges such as Kalshi of blocking the safeguards it has proposed, among them bans on contracts tied to player injuries, officiating decisions and outcomes already known, such as the first play of a game. It has also called for a minimum trading age of 21, in line with most state-regulated sportsbooks.
Barkley's exit stands in contrast to how other leagues are handling the same question. The NBA announced agreements with both Kalshi and Polymarket on Monday, following MLB and the NHL into prediction market tie-ups. Among the major US professional leagues, only the NFL still has no deal with either exchange.
Under the NBA's 2023 collective bargaining agreement, players may hold passive stakes of less than 1% in companies that offer NBA betting and may strike endorsement deals as long as they steer clear of promoting bets on NBA games themselves. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid have taken stakes in Kalshi, while LeBron James's endorsement deal with Polymarket is reportedly worth $15 million a year. Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. signed a Kalshi endorsement deal earlier this month.
The split in league policy plays out against a wider legal battle over whether sports prediction markets are gambling products subject to state oversight or financial derivatives regulated solely by the CFTC. Kalshi and other exchanges argue the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction, while state regulators and tribal gaming interests say the platforms offer sports betting without complying with state gambling law.
Federal appeals courts are divided on the question. The Third Circuit ruled in Kalshi's favour in a New Jersey case, while the Sixth and Ninth Circuits have sided with state regulators in disputes touching Ohio, Tennessee and Nevada. New Jersey has taken the matter to the Supreme Court seeking a final ruling, with the NFL among the organisations backing its petition.