New Bipartisan Senate Bill Targets Sports Prediction Markets
A brand new bipartisan Senate invoice would prohibit sports activities occasion contracts on prediction market platforms, marking the primary bipartisan congressional effort to deal with the sector’s enlargement into areas historically related to sports activities betting.
The laws, backed by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), would prohibit sports activities occasion contracts and sure casino-style choices on Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchanges, in response to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Lawmakers have raised considerations that the merchandise could fall exterior present state regulatory frameworks.
The proposal builds on earlier efforts in Congress, together with laws from Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) that equally targets sports-related prediction market exercise, however stands out for drawing assist from each events within the Senate.
The Schiff/Curtis invoice comes as prediction market platforms proceed to face authorized challenges from states that argue sports activities occasion contracts operate equally to sports activities betting, which is regulated on the state degree. Platforms, in the meantime, keep that they fall beneath federal oversight by the CFTC, which they are saying preempts state legislation. Nevada lately turned the primary state to efficiently drive Kalshi to halt certain event contracts by means of a court-ordered non permanent restraining order.
Shares of DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment (FanDuel’s guardian firm) rose following the report, with DraftKings up 7.2% in premarket buying and selling and Flutter gaining 9.4%, in response to the WSJ.
Congress ought to “remove this backdoor”
The WSJ reported that the invoice, to be launched March 23, would prohibit CFTC-regulated platforms, together with Kalshi and Polymarket’s U.S. app, from itemizing contracts tied to sporting occasions.
“The CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even selling their development,” Schiff informed the outlet, including that Congress ought to “step in and remove this backdoor which violates state shopper protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty and provides no public income.”
Curtis raised related considerations round oversight and entry, significantly as participation grows. “Too many younger folks in Utah are getting uncovered to addictive sports activities betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong beneath state management, not beneath federal regulators,” he mentioned.
Kalshi pushed again on the proposal, with spokesperson Elisabeth Diana telling Front Office Sports that sports activities occasion contracts on federally regulated prediction market platforms “provide a fairer option to customers, with no home that restricts winners and hooks folks the extra they lose.”
Lawmakers proposing broad vary of federal prediction market restrictions
Schiff has already backed separate laws concentrating on different areas of the prediction market sector. Earlier this month, he co-introduced the DEATH BETS Act, which might ban contracts tied to struggle, terrorism, assassination, and loss of life, citing considerations round nationwide safety and insider data. The measure was launched as a bicameral effort alongside Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) within the House.
The newest proposal provides to a growing list of congressional efforts aimed toward regulating prediction markets from a number of angles. Lawmakers have launched payments addressing every little thing from sports-related contracts to insider buying and selling, shopper protections, and participation by public officers.
Most lately, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) announced the “BETS OFF Act” on March 17, which might ban contracts tied to authorities actions and different insider-sensitive occasions.
The week prior, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced the “Prediction Markets Security and Integrity Act” on March 11, a broader framework targeted on insider buying and selling restrictions, underage participation limits, and fraud prevention.
Lawmakers have now proposed eight separate measures concentrating on prediction markets for the reason that begin of 2026.
Focus on sports activities contracts highlights key battleground for prediction markets
While the proposals range in scope, the Schiff/Curtis invoice is without doubt one of the first to instantly goal sports contracts, an space that has drawn probably the most consideration from each regulators and the gaming trade. That focus helps clarify the inventory response, as buyers view restrictions on sports activities contracts as probably limiting a key space of overlap between prediction markets and conventional sportsbooks.
More broadly, the rising variety of proposals suggests lawmakers are shifting shortly to outline the boundaries of prediction markets because the sector expands. Whether by means of focused bans or broader regulatory frameworks, the proposals level to Congress taking a extra lively function in defining the bounds of CFTC oversight and the way prediction markets function alongside present monetary and gaming rules.
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