Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has officially joined the American Gaming Association (AGA) to oppose the platforms that offer prediction markets for sports-related contracts. As a key figure who pushed for the legalization of sports betting in the US, he believes these platforms circumvent state regulatory frameworks and are potentially illegal. Cases related to US sports betting regulations can be queried through the PASA official website.
Core Position: Prediction Markets are Illegal and Undermine State Regulatory Systems
Christie was a key figure in promoting the legalization of sports betting! In 2018, he led a lawsuit that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), allowing 40 states and the District of Columbia to legally engage in sports betting. Now, he directly points out that prediction markets are "clearly illegal," emphasizing that the Supreme Court had handed over the regulation of sports betting to the states, while platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket offer sports betting under the guise of "event contracts" without state licenses, even entering states where sports betting is not legalized, completely ignoring state laws.
The AGA also voiced out, stating that these platforms not only fail to pay state gambling taxes and implement player protection measures but also lack mechanisms for monitoring the integrity of events—licensed sports betting operators report unusual bets, whereas prediction markets do not investigate violations, potentially fostering risks such as match-fixing.
Industry Division: Traditional Gambling Opposes, Giants Have Entered
The attitude towards prediction markets within the industry is quite divided! On one hand, traditional gambling enterprises represented by the AGA strongly oppose, believing that they divert customers and disrupt regulatory order; on the other hand, sports betting giants like DraftKings and FanDuel have quietly laid out their plans, with the former launching prediction markets in 38 states and the latter launching "FanDuel Predicts" in 5 states, creating a subtle situation of "opposition yet following."
Sports leagues are also deeply concerned, with the NCAA having criticized Kalshi's plan to allow users to bet on college athletes transferring, fearing that players might be induced to manipulate outcomes, further exacerbating the risks to the integrity of events.
Regulatory Focus: Conflict between CFTC and State Rights
These platforms are essentially exploiting regulatory loopholes! They rely on derivatives licenses issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), classifying sports contracts as "financial instruments" and evading state-level gambling regulation. However, states like Nevada, New York, and Connecticut do not agree and have issued bans against Kalshi, accusing it of illegal sports betting, while Kalshi countersues the states for overstepping their bounds.
Christie specifically criticizes the CFTC for lax regulation, "Even the CFTC admits it has not strictly regulated sports-related contracts, yet these platforms take advantage of the federal license to violate regulations at will," he believes that this dispute may ultimately need to be resolved by the Supreme Court again to clarify the regulatory jurisdiction of prediction markets.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
