Bulls' Eastern Conference Odds Stay Long as the NBA Makes Kalshi and Polymarket Its Partners

Polymarket had the Chicago Bulls at 0.5% to win the 2027 Eastern Conference on October 26, 2026, with Kalshi at 1%, which puts Bulls Eastern Conference odds level with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets for last in the East on the day the NBA made both exchanges its preferred prediction-market partners. The two venues the league just signed price Chicago at somewhere between one chance in 100 and one in 200 of reaching the Finals, and nothing in the agreement reaches that number.

The league announced the deals on October 26, 2026. Kalshi and Polymarket become what the NBA calls its "Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges," with use of league marks, U.S. marketing and Sportradar's official data to run and settle NBA contracts; in return they accept limits on which NBA markets they list, a trading ban for league and team staff, and duties to share information in investigations. The NBA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and widened its DraftKings deal to that company's prediction-market product, ESPN's David Purdum reported. For Illinois, the point is the Bulls, who play their home games at the United Center in Chicago and whose conference and title boards are priced on exactly those two exchanges.

Where the Bulls sit on the East board

The East board on October 26, 2026 is led by the Philadelphia 76ers, whom Polymarket priced at 22% (Kalshi 23%), then the New York Knicks at 15% on Polymarket (Kalshi 19%) and the Boston Celtics at 14% on Polymarket (Kalshi 16%). The Bulls' 0.5% on Polymarket is the same figure it gave Milwaukee and Brooklyn, and Kalshi's 1% matches its quote for those two clubs. The two venues agree on the order even where they differ on the figure: Chicago is in the bottom group of three, behind the Washington Wizards, whom Polymarket priced at 2% two days after Washington won at the United Center.

The Central Division shows the same gap. Kalshi had the Detroit Pistons at 7%, and the Cleveland Cavaliers were at 6% on Polymarket and the Indiana Pacers at 6% on Kalshi on October 26, 2026, so three of the Bulls' four division rivals sit at least ten times higher than Chicago's best quote. The fourth is Milwaukee, the one club the Bulls have beaten, at the same 0.5%. On the conference board, the Central is three priced contenders above two of the East's three longest shots, and the Bulls are one of those two.

The number has barely moved in three days. Polymarket's Bulls figure went from 0.6% on October 23, 2026, a few hours before they won at Milwaukee, to 0.5% on October 26, while Kalshi stayed at 1% on both dates. After a road win, a home loss and the league's announcement, that tenth of a point is too small a shift to read as a reaction to anything. A partnership changes what the exchanges may do with the NBA's name and data; it does not change how many games the Bulls win, and the price follows the games.

The book behind the Bulls' figure is also small. As of October 26, 2026, Kalshi counted about 77,700 contracts traded on its Bulls East contract over its life, and Polymarket about $14K on its Bulls outcome. The two units are different and are not added together. Either way, the market's read on Chicago rests on far less trading than its read on the clubs at the top of the board, so the Bulls' figure is a rough read rather than a firm one.

The title board says the same thing

On the 2027 NBA Finals board, Polymarket had the Bulls at 0.2% on October 26, 2026 and Kalshi had them at 1%. Polymarket showed the same 0.2% on October 16 and October 19, so the start of the season and Monday's announcement both passed without a change. The San Antonio Spurs lead that board at 22% on both venues, and the Oklahoma City Thunder sit at 18% on Polymarket (Kalshi 21%).

The two venues separate the bottom of the Finals board differently. Kalshi showed 1% for 14 clubs on October 26, 2026, the Bulls among them, so its board does not tell Chicago apart from most of the league's bottom half. Polymarket's does: it puts the Bulls at 0.2%, level with the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Orleans Pelicans and ahead of only Brooklyn, Sacramento and Milwaukee at 0.1%. That is the market treating a Bulls title as a remote outcome, priced near the floor on both venues.

A 1-2 start, with the East's three favorites next

ESPN's standings on October 26, 2026 have the Bulls at 1-2 and fourth in the Central Division. They lost at Toronto 135-92 on October 21, won at Milwaukee 132-125 on October 23, and lost their first regular-season home game at the United Center to Washington, 124-120, on October 24.

ESPN's injury list for the Bulls ahead of the October 26, 2026 game in Boston has Nic Claxton out with a hamstring injury, with November 4 listed as his estimated return, and Patrick Williams (groin) and Noa Essengue (head) as day-to-day.

The schedule that follows is a hard one. The Bulls play at the Celtics at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 26, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Central, then host the Knicks at the United Center on October 28, return to Boston on October 30, visit the 76ers in Philadelphia on November 2 and play the Knicks again in New York on November 4. All five games are against the three clubs the East board prices highest. ESPN's standings put the Knicks at 0-3 and the Celtics at 1-1, so their starts have not matched their prices either.

That stretch is the clearest test the schedule offers before mid-November. Five games against clubs priced at 14% to 22% are where a Bulls price at 0.5% on Polymarket would have to start climbing if it is going to leave the bottom three; a run of losses would leave Chicago where it is now, priced with Milwaukee and Brooklyn.

What the deal does and does not change in Illinois

Illinois has its own record on both exchanges: the Illinois Gaming Board sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi on April 1, 2025 and to Polymarket US on January 27, 2026, and in a federal case in Chicago the court partly granted preliminary-injunction motions on October 2, 2026 and gave the parties until October 29, 2026 to propose an injunction, as the Illinois legal status page sets out with the documents. The NBA's announcement does not mention Illinois or any state's law.

NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN that the league would "let the courts decide" who regulates these markets, and that its contracts with the two exchanges cover the case in which they can no longer offer sports markets. Illinois's pending case is one of the places where that question is being argued.

What comes next

The first test for the Bulls' price is the game at Boston on October 26, 2026, followed by the Knicks at the United Center on October 28. In the Chicago federal cases, the proposed injunction is due on October 29, 2026. The league said it intends to bring more of its official sports betting partners, and other companies, into similar arrangements over the next few weeks. The live East board is on the Bulls Eastern Conference market page, the title board on the Bulls NBA Finals market page, and the club's other boards on the Chicago Bulls page.