AGA Urges Congress to Ban Sports Betting on Prediction Markets
Posted on: June 22, 2026, 11:01h.
Last updated on: June 22, 2026, 11:16h.
- The AGA is urging Congress to ban sports-related prediction market trading
- The AGA contends that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has exceeded its authority by allowing prediction markets such as Kalshi to offer sports event contracts nationwide
- Federal lawmakers have introduced the bipartisan Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, which would prohibit the CFTC from permitting sports and casino-style event contracts
The American Gaming Association (AGA) and numerous other gaming and related trade groups are calling on the United States Congress to pass legislation outlawing gaming on prediction markets.
Prediction markets are federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under the second Trump administration, the independent federal agency has allowed prediction markets to include trading on event outcomes tied to sports.
For instance, a trader can buy and sell shares of this afternoon’s Argentina vs. Austria World Cup match. Almost $31 million in notional volume has been traded on the game at the time of this writing.
The AGA says such trading constitutes sports betting, and the CFTC’s allowance of prediction markets to engage in those markets violates federal law and state rights.
By offering nationwide sports betting through so-called ‘sports event contracts’ and branding it as a federally regulated financial product, these platforms have bypassed state and tribal law, weakened consumer protections, and undercut a system built on local control — one that supports jobs, generates tax revenue, and funds community priorities,” the AGA letter read.
The letter to the members of the US Senate was cosigned by the Indian Gaming Association, Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, several state gaming regulatory agencies, and almost two dozen labor unions.
Congressional Call
Michael Selig, Trump’s hand-picked CFTC chair, says sports trades constitute “innovation” in prediction markets. The AGA thinks sports event contract trading isn’t financial investing but a form of gambling, which the Commodity Exchange Act has historically barred.
The CFTC was created to oversee commodities and derivatives markets, not gambling and not sports wagering. It lacks both the expertise and the infrastructure to police nationwide sports betting, particularly when robust state and tribal regulatory systems already exist,” the AGA letter continued.
“Litigation may eventually clarify the law, but this is ultimately a question of congressional intent. Congress should not wait while this nationwide expansion of gambling continues. It should use crypto legislation to reaffirm a simple principle: sports betting falls outside the CFTC’s remit and cannot be offered through prediction market platforms,” the letter argued.
Federal Legislation
In March, US Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, bipartisan legislation to prohibit the CFTC from allowing prediction markets to offer trading on sports or any casino-style game.
“Sports prediction contracts are sports bets — just with a different name. And yet, these contracts are currently offered in all 50 states in clear violation of state and federal law,” said Schiff.
Rather than enforce the law, the CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth. It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty, and offers no public revenue,” Schiff continued.
The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act remains with the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.
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