The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States unanimously approved a resolution at its summer meeting urging Congress to declare prediction markets a form of illegal gambling and return regulatory authority to state and tribal governments.
The resolution, titled “A Resolution Opposing the Expansion of Unregulated Prediction Markets and Urging Federal and State Action to Protect Consumers and Regulated Gaming Markets,” sets out six actionable demands. These include calling on Congress to clarify that prediction market contracts are illegal under existing gambling law, urging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to stop treating sports and political event contracts as legitimate financial instruments exempt from gaming regulation, and directing NCLGS leadership to communicate the resolution to Congress, the CFTC, the National Governors Association, and other relevant bodies.
The resolution also encourages member states to examine their existing gaming statutes and assert jurisdiction over prediction market operators within their borders – a signal that state-level enforcement pressure may intensify alongside any federal action. It affirms the sovereign authority of states and tribes to regulate gaming within their jurisdictions.
Operator Relationships Under Scrutiny
The resolution puts NCLGS on a collision course with some of its longtime industry supporters. DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel – three of the largest operators in regulated US sports betting – have each launched their own prediction market products. Georgia Representative Al Williams, who did not support sports betting legalization in his home state this session, takes over as NCLGS president following the meeting.
The Sports Betting Alliance, which represents DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, bet365, and BetMGM, has not taken a position on prediction markets given its mixed membership. CEO Joe Maloney issued a statement congratulating Williams on his election as president and acknowledging outgoing president Delegate Shawn Fluharty, but did not address the resolution’s substance directly.
Spectrum Gaming COO Juliann Barreto, speaking on behalf of NCLGS, said that “NCLGS exists to provide legislators with objective, substantive education on the most important issues facing gaming policy” and that “Prediction markets represent one of the most significant emerging issues confronting state policymakers, and we have ensured that our members hear directly from experts on all sides of the debate.”
Federal and Regulatory Backdrop
The NCLGS resolution’s demands – spanning Congress, the CFTC, state legislatures, and tribal governments – reflect the breadth of the jurisdictional questions that prediction market operators now face as gaming-state legislators align against their expansion.
Source: Legal Sports Report
Petra Vanhoof has spent the better part of a decade following the shifting tides of gambling regulation across Europe and beyond. She came up through the compliance side of the industry before pivoting to writing, which gives her a grounded, no-nonsense perspective on the rules, loopholes, and political maneuvering that shape how operators actually do business. She is particularly drawn to the gap between what regulators say and what the market ends up doing in response.