Polymarket Pulls NFL Player Participation Contracts One Day After CFTC Filing

Heading into the 2026-27 NFL season, Polymarket planned to offer prediction market contracts on player participation. Still, just one day after submitting them to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it's pulling the plug on them. 

This news comes after Kalshi announced it would launch similar contracts, and by all accounts, they're proceeding. 

Polymarket Withdraws Patrick Mahomes Participation Contract

The Polymarket self-certification was dated August 25, and the first filing included the Week 1 availability of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes tore his ACL late in the 2025-26 season, so asking about his Week 1 availability would likely be a popular contract. 

It was listed in the following way: 

• Will Patrick Mahomes participate in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 1 regular-season game?

This contract was also listed as an event contract in the "Sport" category.

There was another filing that was a bit broader, worded as follows: Will participate in ?

However, as mentioned, both filings were withdrawn from the CFTC registry a day later, and no reason was given. 

Other NFL Starting Player Contracts Remain

Additionally, two other types of contracts have not been withdrawn that are worded as follows: 

• Filing No. 1: Will Josh Allen be the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL regular season?
• Filing No. 2: Will be the starting for 17882391223AM5 in ?

The timing of this also aligns with comments from the NFL following its signing of multi-year sports betting partnerships with Fanatics, DraftKings, and FanDuel. In the press release, the NFL mentioned that these entities and the NFL will be “working together to prohibit wagers the league finds objectionable.” Those included sports bets related to officiating and injuries and “knowable in advance." 

Perhaps Polymarket got rid of some of these contracts in hopes of a potential relationship with the NFL? For now, that's pure speculation.