NFL forces Saquon Barkley to walk away from his Polymarket investment (Imagn Images)
Front Office Sports reported that players cannot own shares in these companies. Barkley confirmed it himself.
The league simply said no. Barkley told Front Office Sports that the NFL goes over changes to endorsements, investments and other business matters with players before each season. “I am not in that right now,” Barkley told Front Office Sports. Once the league’s position was clear, Barkley said, “So I kinda had to get out of that. The league has told players, coaches and staff that trading on sports prediction markets breaks its gambling policy. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy also told NBC Sports earlier this year that players can’t hold a stake in the companies either. “NFL players may not own a stake,” McCarthy said.
Saquon Barkley has built a quiet investment portfolio away from football, and one piece of it had to go. The Philadelphia Eagles running back held a stake in Polymarket, the prediction-market company, until NFL rules forced him out. The league treats prediction markets much like sports betting, even though Polymarket and Kalshi work differently from a regular sportsbook. This was not a bad bet gone wrong. That is where the prediction-market rule came up. “I am not allowed to be in that. He had already put money in by then.
For athletes, that gap is now a real business issue. Two stars in two leagues can look at the same company and get opposite answers. A player who wants equity deals has to check his own league’s rules first, and those rules can change from one season to the next.