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Prediction Markets Move into College Football as On3 Signs Polymarket Deal

The deal lands just six months after NCAA president Charlie Baker asked federal regulators to pause all college sports prediction markets until stronger protections are in place.

Ziv Chen

Last Updated: August 11, 2026 4:50 AM EDT • 3 minute read

Pictured: Indiana's Fernando Mendoza and D'Angelo Ponds kiss the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy as we look at the deal between On3 and Polymarket. Photo by USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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On3, one of the largest college football media outlets in the country, has named Polymarket its exclusive prediction market partner, weaving trading data into its articles, videos, podcasts, newsletters and social channels starting with the 2026 season. The company says it draws more than 25 million fans a month, and coverage will span conference races, postseason outcomes and coaching changes.

The deal lands just six months after NCAA president Charlie Baker asked federal regulators to pause all college sports contracts on prediction market apps until stronger protections are in place. Baker's January request called for age and advertising restrictions, tighter integrity monitoring, limits on prop-style contracts, and safeguards against athlete harassment.

On3 built guardrails into its own arrangement. High school athletes and players in the transfer portal are excluded from the partnership, a notable carve-out for a company whose business relies on tracking where prospects and transfers are heading before the public knows.

The tie-up fits a broader pattern for Polymarket, which has spent months signing sports partnerships. Major League Baseball named the company its official prediction market partner in March and also reached an agreement with the CFTC on an integrity framework. The ATP Tour joined this week, and Polymarket already has arrangements tied to the Rangers, MLS and LaLiga.

For college sports specifically, the situation is more complicated. Athletes are students, recruiting information moves through informal channels like screenshots and group chats, and oversight structures remain far less developed than in professional leagues. On3's move signals that prediction markets are becoming part of mainstream sports media even as the NCAA pushes for a slower rollout.

Kalshi turns to Nasdaq to strengthen trade oversight

While one prediction market operator expands its media reach, another is focused on shoring up how it polices trading activity. Kalshi announced a multi-year partnership with Nasdaq on Monday to adopt the exchange operator's market surveillance platform across its event contracts business.

The rollout will happen in phases, layering Nasdaq's monitoring tools on top of Kalshi's existing surveillance framework and extending coverage to both prediction markets and the perpetual-style derivatives the company is adding. The combined system is intended to help detect market abuse, manipulation and insider trading in real time, and to deliver trade data to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the format the agency requires.

Max Crowley, Kalshi's vice president of business development, said the arrangement reflects the company's commitment to market integrity and gives it access to surveillance data used by some of the world's largest exchanges.

The deal follows a stretch of scrutiny for Kalshi. The CFTC fined former congressman George Santos $35,000 last month over allegedly manipulative trading on the platform, and a White House teleprompter operator is reportedly under investigation for potential insider trading involving Kalshi contracts. Nasdaq is the fourth surveillance partnership Kalshi has struck this year, following earlier deals with Solidus Labs, StarCompliance and Comply.

Written by:
Ziv Chen

Ziv has over two decades of experience in the igaming and sports betting industry, having served in senior marketing and business development positions with both B2C and B2B companies, including Playtech and Microgaming. In 2019, Ziv decided to pursue his passion for writing and became a fulltime industry journalist, covering casino, sports, and gambling business news. He’s specialties include casino games and technology, US state gambling regulation, company performance, as well as gambling affiliates and marketing. As a Pitt graduate, Ziv is a diehard fan of all Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Steelers at the top of the list. In his free time, he enjoys reading crime fiction, biographies (mainly of sports personalities, but not only) and American history. Ziv’s Favorite quote: “We're going to pursue perfection, knowing full well we won't catch it, but we're going to relentlessly chase it," Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach.