Saquon Barkley no longer owns a piece of Polymarket. The Philadelphia Eagles running back said on Wednesday that he had to sell his equity stake in the prediction-market company because NFL rules do not allow players to invest in, or endorse, gambling or prediction-market businesses.
“I am not in that right now. I’m not allowed to be in that,” Barkley told reporters Ben Horney and Daniel Roberts. “I was in it before, but no bueno.”
The league confirmed the rule on Wednesday. It said players are barred from investing in and promoting both sportsbooks and prediction markets, but it would not discuss Barkley’s own case.
How Barkley found out
Polymarket appeared among Barkley’s startup investments in a profile published in September 2025, seven months after he helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Some time between then and this past summer, the league told players they could not hold a financial interest in prediction-market platforms.
Barkley said the NFL briefs players before every season on new rules about “what you can and can’t do” with endorsements, investments and training. Prediction markets were on this year’s list, covering both sponsorship deals and ownership. “So I kinda had to get out of that,” he said. Polymarket declined to comment.
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What the NFL’s policy says
The league’s written sports betting policy treats any market that lets people trade on the outcome of a sporting event as sports betting. Under it:
- NFL players and league and club personnel may not take part in, promote or invest in prediction markets tied to NFL games, players or events.
- Companies known mainly for offering sports event contracts may not advertise during NFL game broadcasts.
- The league has sent every sports prediction market a letter listing the bets it wants banned, the same list it pushes on regulated sportsbooks: bets on officiating, on injuries, on outcomes one player decides in a single play, and on things already decided before kickoff, such as who starts at quarterback.
- The NFL says prediction markets should face the same integrity and responsible gambling rules as traditional sportsbooks.
Earlier this year, an NFLPA spokesperson said the league “views prediction markets as gambling entities, so players are not allowed to be an endorser or brand ambassador for a company like Kalshi or Polymarket under the gambling policy.” When Giannis Antetokounmpo became a Kalshi shareholder, league spokesman Brian McCarthy put the NFL’s answer in five words: “NFL players may not own a stake.”
The NFL is now the outlier
The other major American leagues have gone the other way. The NBA named Kalshi and Polymarket its preferred prediction-market partners this week. Major League Baseball signed an exclusive deal with Polymarket in March, reported to be worth up to $300 million over four years, and MLS has a Polymarket agreement too. The NHL was first, signing with both companies in October 2025. In the NBA, Antetokounmpo is an investor in Kalshi and LeBron James has an endorsement deal with Polymarket.
The NFL does have official sportsbook partners, but it has kept prediction markets at a distance. It barred their Super Bowl commercials last season and recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case over sports event contracts, arguing that for now they should be regulated by the states rather than by federal authorities. Officiating sits on the league’s list of off-limits bets for a reason: the league is still working through a season in which it suspended two game officials and penalty totals are near record levels.
Barkley’s week on the field
The off-field news comes in a busy week for the 29-year-old. Barkley came back from a hamstring injury in Monday night’s 38-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, tweaked the hamstring on his first carry and later left with a back injury, as our Eagles injury update explained. The 2-5 Eagles, who have lost five straight, play the Washington Commanders on Sunday night.
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