The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Major League Baseball (MLB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Thursday, creating a formal framework for the two organisations to exchange information on baseball integrity and related prediction markets.
The CFTC described the deal as the first of its kind between the agency and a professional sports league.
The MOU establishes a channel for the CFTC and MLB to discuss, cooperate, and share information on matters of common interest. In practical terms, the agreement is designed to help both sides respond faster to incidents and anticipate emerging risks in event contracts tied to professional baseball.
“The MOU is a collaborative step towards promoting the integrity and resilience of the prediction markets relating to professional baseball. Through this MOU, the CFTC is well-positioned to add additional tools to protect these markets and its participants from fraud, manipulation, and other abuses,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig.
Selig thanked MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for “taking a leading role in protecting the integrity of these growing markets.”
The agreement formalises information-sharing but does not itself change which contracts can trade or how they are approved.
Background
The deal follows months of signalling from both sides. ESPN reported in February that Manfred said MLB was considering partnerships with prediction markets and had briefed team owners on working with platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi.
The CFTC, meanwhile, has been reshaping its prediction-markets posture since January, when Selig ordered staff to withdraw a proposed rule that would have prohibited trades on sports and politics. On March 12, the agency issued guidance that explicitly encouraged prediction-market operators to engage with sports governing bodies before self-certifying sports contracts, and to establish information-sharing arrangements.
The MLB deal looks like the first concrete example of that policy being put into practice.
