Afternoon Edition

October 28, 2026

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Saquon Barkley had to give up his stake in Polymarket after the NFL told him its rules prohibit players from investing in prediction-market companies, the Eagles star told Front Office Sports. The revelation comes as other major sports leagues embrace prediction markets through lucrative deals, while the NFL continues to keep its distance.

Also: From the NFL and NBA to MLB and beyond, FOS breaks down how team owners have poured more than $100 million into the midterm elections, mostly backing Republicans.

—Ben Horney and Daniel Roberts

First Up

Women’s sports bar owners say the WNBA’s midday Finals game could cost them thousands in lost revenue.
Ernie Johnson is leaving Inside the NBA after 37 years, citing health concerns and family priorities.
Utah is expanding the NHL’s Winter Classic into a four-day event that brings the Jazz and Mammoth into the fold.

NFL Told Saquon Barkley to Divest Polymarket Stake

Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

Saquon Barkley was forced to divest his equity stake in Polymarket because NFL players are not allowed to invest in or endorse gambling or prediction-market companies under league rules, the Eagles running back told Front Office Sports.

A profile of Barkley revealed last September that Polymarket was among his start-up investments. But at some point between then and this past summer, the league told players they are not allowed to have financial interests in prediction-market platforms.

“I am not in that right now,” Barkley told FOS. “I am not allowed to be in that.”

The NFL informs players before the start of each season of any new rules around “what you can and can’t do,” with respect to endorsements, investments, and training, Barkley said. There’s a ban on doing business with prediction markets, including endorsement deals or investments. “So I kinda had to get out of that,” he said.

“I was in it before, but no bueno,” Barkley told FOS.

A source familiar with the NFL’s policy told FOS earlier this year that the league’s prohibition on promoting and investing in sportsbooks extends to prediction markets, but the league did not comment at that time when asked whether Barkley’s investment in Polymarket was a violation.

Polymarket declined to comment for this story. The NFL on Wednesday confirmed the prohibition on investments in and promotion of sportsbooks and prediction markets but declined to comment on Barkley’s specific situation.

In 2015, the NFL Players Association announced a licensing partnership that allowed DraftKings the right to employ active NFL players for in-product and promotional campaigns. But at that time, DraftKings was still only a daily fantasy sports company. It received its first state gambling license in 2018, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal prohibition on sports betting.

NFL Still Keeping Its Distance From Prediction Markets

An NFLPA spokesperson told FOS in January that 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.”

Although the league has official sports betting partners in DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics, it has not yet embraced prediction markets, and barred prediction-market Super Bowl ads last year. It recently urged the Supreme Court to take up a case centered on the issue of sports event contracts, and said that, for now, it believes prediction markets should be regulated at the state, not federal, level.

Despite recurring controversies around prediction markets, the other big leagues are all in business with them now.

The NBA just this week announced Kalshi and Polymarket as its “preferred prediction market partners.” (The deal does not apply to the WNBA.) MLB reached an exclusive deal with Polymarket in March that FOS reported is worth up to $300 million over four years. MLS announced an agreement with Polymarket in January. The NHL was first among the major leagues to partner with prediction markets, announcing deals with Kalshi and Polymarket last October.

Barkley was among the first athletes to have a professional relationship with a prediction-market platform, but over the last year it has become far more common for players to endorse or invest in companies. In the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo is an investor in Kalshi, while LeBron James made a deal with Polymarket that FOS reported will pay him $15 million per year. Golf star Bryson DeChambeau struck a deal with Kalshi.

The NBA is not restricting its players from endorsing or investing in prediction markets, but players are not allowed to promote NBA-related event contracts, a source familiar with the matter previously told FOS. James’s deal with Polymarket will focus on promoting football. NBA players are allowed to hold small, passive interests in sports betting or fantasy companies, but they cannot promote NBA-related bets.

Former NFL stars Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman are among a pile of famous athletes who quietly invested in Kalshi in April through a family office platform called Factory Holdings.

In 2023, NFL agent Blake Baratz told FOS the league’s prohibition on players promoting sports betting was “fairly hypocritical.”

Your Paddock Pregame

It’s time for “Lights Out” in Las Vegas. Front Office Sports and PwC are teaming up to host the perfect paddock pregame for Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. On Friday, Nov. 20, FOS and PwC will host Tastemakers—a curated afternoon of engaging conversations with some of sports’s most influential executives.

Join us as we bring together leaders in sports, media, and entertainment from all over the globe who are building, investing in, and shaping what comes next in the world of sports.

Limited space available—request to attend now.

STATUS REPORT

One Up, Two Down, One Push

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Rays tickets ⬇ Despite the Rays’ dramatic victory in Game 4 of the World Series, tickets for Game 5 are showing marked weakness on the resale market. A low-end get-in price that was more than $800 after the Rays came from behind to win in the 12th inning plummeted to $497 by Wednesday afternoon, according to TicketData. A key factor is the large swath of primary market tickets still available through the Rays. While the historic influx of Brewers fans in the Tampa area continues, some have returned to Wisconsin.

Arsenal ⬇ The Premier League’s defending champions crashed out of the Carabao Cup, losing on penalties to fourth-division club Fleetwood Town. Arsenal has a total wage bill of just under $200 million per year, while Fleetwood’s is estimated to be roughly $3.5 million. Arsenal’s new $100 million signing, Brazilian central midfielder Bruno Guimarães, missed the decisive penalty in the shootout.

Georgia ⬆ For the first time in 31 years, the Florida-Georgia football game will be played in the Peach State. Saturday’s game is taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta rather than EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, the rivalry’s typical location. That’s because of the Jaguars’ $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank, which will force the team to play its home games in Orlando next season.

Stan Wawrinka ⬆⬇ The 41-year-old Swiss tennis legend played the final match of his career Tuesday night, losing 7–5, 7–6, to Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the ATP 500 in Basel. Wawrinka ends his career with $38.7 million in career earnings, the 11th-highest figure in ATP history. The $20 million deal Wawrinka signed with Yonex in 2014 was the most lucrative contract in the Japanese apparel company’s history. Wawrinka won three Grand Slam titles between 2014 and 2016.

Microsoft’s Trusted Sports Experiences Run on Real-Time Data From Sportradar

Every day, Microsoft serves scores, stats, and play-by-play to millions of fans across Windows, MSN, Bing, and Copilot.

“Users expect Microsoft to be perfect in everything that they do,” says Lane Shipley, enterprise client partner at Sportradar.

That means fast. That means right. Every time.

Sportradar delivers. Official data is captured on the court, processed, and sent to Microsoft in seconds, if not milliseconds, at global scale.

See how Sportradar keeps one of the world’s biggest brands running in real time.

Watch Sportradar’s newest partnership story with Microsoft.

ONE FUN THING

Tuition on the Terps

Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Maryland’s football team is reeling after dropping five consecutive games and firing head coach Mike Locksley. But for especially loyal fans, a new and lucrative reward could sit on the horizon: free tuition.

For the Terrapins’ Saturday home game against Illinois, the university is running a promotion in which one student who stays until the fourth quarter will win free tuition for the spring 2027 semester. The promotion was first reported by The Athletic, which obtained an email sent to the student body by Maryland athletics.

Students who attend the game can scan a QR code on SECU Stadium’s big screen to enter the raffle. The winner will earn a maximum of $5,507.50, the value of in-state tuition for Maryland students.