The sports events contract market is exploding in the United States and the American Gaming Association (AGA) really wants to be part of the conversation. This week, the gambling industry’s biggest lobbying group sent a letter to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requesting a seat at the table when the Commission discusses event trading next month.
Sports events contracts are currently operating in a legal gray space that’s definitely outside of the regulated sports betting space. The prospect of unlicensed competitors is something the AGA is rightly concerned about. Even the current, acting, CFTC Chair Caroline D. Pham described the events contract market as, “a sinkhole of legal uncertainty.”
The AGA is also likely concerned that futures trading sites like Kalshi and Crypto.com will have an edge in those talks, given the fact that the incoming CFTC Chair is a Kalshi Board Member. Donald Trump Jr., the son of the current US President, is also an “advisor” to the company.
One of the AGA’s big concerns about events trading is that it “tramples on tribal sovreignty” by allowing a form of mobile betting in areas where tribal gaming interests have an exclusive lock on regulated sports betting.
With this letter, the regulated gaming industry seems to be trying to get a foot in the door with regards to the events contract discussion. Senior vice president of government relations Chris Cylke addressed the AGA’s main concerns in the letter, as reported on by Sportico.com, saying, “We believe these sports events contracts are problematic for a variety of public policy reasons, which we highlight briefly and would welcome the opportunity to discuss in more detail during the roundtable.”
So far there’s been no response from the CTFC to the AGA’s request.