Saquon Barkley Divests Polymarket Stake Under NFL Gambling Rules
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has given up his equity stake in Polymarket because NFL rules do not let players invest in or endorse gambling or prediction-market companies. Barkley told Front Office Sports that he is no longer invested and that the league leaves him no choice.
The disclosure shows how far the NFL's gambling policy now reaches into the prediction markets space, even as other major leagues sign commercial deals with the same platforms.
Barkley's Polymarket investment first came to light in a September 2025 profile of his investment portfolio, which listed the platform among his start-up holdings. Sometime between that profile and this summer, the league told players they could not hold financial interests in prediction-market platforms.
The Eagles star said the NFL briefs players before each season on what they can and cannot do with endorsements, investments and training, and that the rules now include a ban on doing business with prediction markets. He was invested before, he said, but had to get out. He did not say when he sold.
The League's Position
The NFL confirmed on Wednesday that its prohibition on investing in and promoting sportsbooks also covers prediction markets, but it declined to comment on Barkley's own situation. Polymarket also declined to comment.
The stance is not new. An NFL Players Association spokesperson told Front Office Sports in January that the league treats prediction markets as gambling entities, so players cannot act as endorsers or brand ambassadors for firms such as Kalshi or Polymarket.
The league has official betting partners in DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics, but it has not signed a prediction-market deal. It barred prediction-market commercials from the Super Bowl last year, and it has urged the Supreme Court to take up a case on sports event contracts, saying that for now it believes the markets should be regulated by states rather than federally.
Other Leagues Take A Different Line
The NFL is increasingly alone among the big US leagues. The NBA announced this week that Kalshi and Polymarket are its preferred prediction-market partners, though that deal does not cover the WNBA. Front Office Sports reported that MLB's exclusive Polymarket agreement, signed in March, is worth up to $300 million over four years.
MLS announced a Polymarket deal in January, and the NHL was the first major league to sign prediction-market partners, naming Kalshi and Polymarket last October.
Athletes are moving too. NBA players can hold small passive stakes in betting companies but cannot promote NBA-related bets, according to a source who spoke to Front Office Sports. Giannis Antetokounmpo is an investor in Kalshi, LeBron James has a Polymarket partnership that FOS reported pays him $15 million a year, and golfer Bryson DeChambeau has a deal with Kalshi.
What It Means For Fans And Bettors
For fans, the practical point is that the NFL is keeping a hard line on its own players while its commercial partners stay in traditional betting. Anyone looking to bet on football through a regulated route can compare licensed operators in our guide to US sportsbooks.
The rules around athlete involvement are still shifting league by league. Our US news coverage tracks the prediction-market deals, court fights and policy changes as they develop.
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