AGA, IGA Press Congress on Prediction Markets Sports Bets
Posted on: January 13, 2026, 12:19h.
Last updated on: January 13, 2026, 12:42h.
- Gaming trade groups say sports event contracts are “indistinguishable” from legal sports betting
- They say the prediction markets industry is exploiting inaction by the CFTC
The American Gaming Association (AGA) and the Indian Gaming Association (IGA) are urging Congress to take action on sports event contracts, which the trade groups say are “indistinguishable” from traditional sports wagers.
In a letter to members of the House and Senate, the gaming trade groups say that prediction market operators are capitalizing on inaction by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — the industry’s federal regulator — resulting in harm to state gaming laws and tribal sovereignty. The groups believe Congress can leverage cryptocurrency legislation to better regulate prediction markets on a national scale.
We firmly believe that congressional consideration of cryptocurrency market structure legislation provides an important, bipartisan opportunity to prevent sports betting and casino gambling under the guise of ‘event contracts,’” according to the letter.
The AGA and IGA also decried the self-certification process, which has allowed prediction market operators to bring scores of new sports event contracts to market with little regulatory oversight. Not only are those derivatives available to anyone who’s at least 18 years old, but related expansion is threatening state and tribal revenue streams, the trade groups said.
Tribes Have Been Vocal About Prediction Markets Sports Bets
Tribal casino operators have been increasingly vocal in their opposition to sports event contracts because, in many states, those groups have exclusivity compacts, meaning any form of wagering expansion must go through them.
Last month, the IGA noted neither the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA) nor the CFTC, which regulates companies like Kalshi and Polymarket, afford purveyors of event contracts protections to offer sports wagering in states where gaming expansion is a tribal issue.
“According to 39 state Attorneys General, these contracts are contrary to their state laws. They violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) that gives tribes exclusivity to offer gaming products on their land. Sports event contracts also violate the federal Wire Act that makes it illegal to offer sports wagers across state lines,” the AGA and IGA point out in their letter.
The trade associations also note that prediction markets are capitalizing on contracts linked to negative events, including assassinations and war, and those bets would never be allowed under state and tribal laws.
Sports Contracts are Misleading, Say AGA, IGA
Football event contracts stoked massive volume surges for prediction market operators – so much so that some companies are waging campaigns to convince critics their volume is about much more than sports.
That’s a matter for the court of public opinion to decide, but what is clear is that the AGA and IGA want Congress to act because they believe sports event contracts mislead bettors and investors while opening the door to an array other unsavory vulnerabilities.
“They (sports event contracts) mislead consumers into believing that a sports bet is an investment, fail to protect the young and the vulnerable, open the door to money laundering, match fixing, and insider trading,” conclude the trade associations. “They rob state budgets and tribal finances while simultaneously forcing states and tribes to expend massive legal resources to defend their sovereignty.”
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