Dj Genius Sports Price Target Raised To $13.00/Share From $10.00 By Wells Fargo

(16:13 GMT) Genius Sports Price Target Raised to $13.00/Share From $10.00 by Wells Fargo

By Nick Devor

Bets on National Football League games make up a large portion of trading volume on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, but so far the NFL is taking a cautious approach to the growing prediction business.

Prediction markets are "not something we're about to enter into," NFL Commission Roger Goodell said Wednesday at an investor day for Genius Sports, the sports data and technology firm. "There are a lot of legal challenges going on right now."

"We'd like to be first in the market in a lot of things, but a lot of things we're willing to say, 'We're gonna let things play out,'" Goodell said.

Prediction markets can essentially replicate sports betting by offering so-called event contracts that allow customers to trade on the outcome of things like an NFL game. Questions about whether the contracts constitute gambling are working their way through the legal system, and experts expect the debate to wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Betting — and the integrity of competition — have taken on increased attention for sports leagues in the wake of the betting scandal that rocked the National Basketball Association in October. Prediction markets are potentially a new complicating factor.

"The risk to the brand is something that we take very seriously, and we won't risk brand in something until we feel confident that we can do it, " Goodell said Wednesday.

"We're concerned that if these markets aren't properly regulated they could be susceptible to manipulation or price distortion," David Highhill, the NFL's then-general manager for sports betting strategy, said in August.

Polymarket and Kalshi didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Goodell's latest comments.

Other sports leagues, including the National Hockey League and Ultimate Fighting Championship, have already entered into partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket.

Despite the NFL's tepid take on prediction markets, the league's games have been a hot trade on Kalshi and Polymarket.

Kalshi has seen a total of $3.5 billion in trading volume on NFL game contracts and $3.1 billion in college football contracts, according to data analytics company Dune. NBA and Major League Baseball contracts have seen $2.1 billion and $865 million in volume, respectively.

That new competition has weighed on shares of DraftKings and Flutter, the owners of online sportsbooks. They're down 5% and 19%, respectively, this year.

An NFL partnership would be a boon for the prediction markets. As it stands, the platforms can't use copyrighted terms to describe event contracts based on NFL games. February's Super Bowl LIX between the Chiefs and Eagles was called the "pro football championship" on Kalshi.

A formal partnership could also bring prediction market odds into NFL television broadcasts. Data from sportsbooks have already become standard fare in TV sports coverage.

This week, both CNN and CNBC announced partnerships with Kalshi to feature the platform's odds data on their networks.

Write to Nick Devor at nicholas.devor@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(14:03 GMT) Genius Sports Price Target Raised to $17.00/Share From $16.00 by Guggenheim