President Charlie Baker, in his State of College Sports address at the NCAA convention, focused on companies like Kalshi, which allow users to invest and trade based on many outcomes inside and outside of sports – from hiring coaches to election results.
“So-called prediction markets offer what all can see is unregulated betting on college games,” Baker said during his speech. “One operator, Kalshi, made plans to place bets – and I’m not kidding, this is true – on transfer portal decisions until we called them out and they backed out.”
In a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Baker said the NCAA is willing to work with the agency to develop a “system that protects student-athletes and consumers from harm.”
Prediction markets are regulated by the CFTC, but are not required to meet the same oversight standards as online sportsbooks, which are set by state gaming commissions and legislatures.
Kalshi and other prediction markets are legal nationwide as they are classified as a financial trading platform and not a gambling service.
More than thirty attorneys general have issued cease-and-desist letters, stating that Kalshi’s sports markets functionally mirror sports betting and should be regulated as such.
In its letter, the NCAA called for age restrictions, advertising restrictions, robust integrity oversight, national governing body involvement, marketplace restrictions, anti-harassment measures and harm reduction tools such as problem gambling education on college campuses.
The NCAA first called out Kalshi in November with a letter asking for changes in the way the company describes its sports markets and asking for clarification on its integrity safeguards against gambling risks.
NCAA Chief Legal Officer Scott Bearby asked Kalshi to change the wording “Result verified by NCAA” to “Result sourced from NCAA.com,” citing concerns that the original wording implied a partnership.
Baker targeted Kalshi again in December after it was reported that the company had filed the necessary paperwork with federal regulators to make bets on which college athletes will transfer.
Kalshi never made that market available to users.
A Kalshi spokesperson emphasized at the time that the company uses internal policies and third-party surveillance systems to monitor trading activities. Baker praised the NCAA’s work in lobbying some states to restrict prop betting on college players and called for broader restrictions.
Prop betting allows players to bet on their performance and has been linked to several cases of game manipulation in college basketball and the NBA.
In recent months, the NCAA has ruled that more than a dozen Division I men’s basketball players are permanently ineligible for manipulating game results and their own performances, making unauthorized bets, providing information to bettors and failing to cooperate with investigations.
The NCAA also recently rescinded a proposed change to longstanding rules that prohibit athletes and those who work for athletic departments from betting on professional sports — even legally.
“The NCAA has responded more aggressively to sports betting than probably any other league in the country, and I really hope more people will join this effort,” Baker said during his speech.
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