Senators introduce bill to ban sports betting on prediction markets

A bill introduced in the Senate would ban prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from accepting or listing transactions related to sports events.

A bill introduced in the Senate on Monday would ban prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from accepting or listing transactions related to sports events and casino-style games.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and John Curtis, R-Utah, is the first bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate targeting the rise of sports betting on services like Polymarket and Kalshi. While traditional sports gambling is regulated by states, prediction markets use a different technical trading mechanism, via futures or commodity contracts, that falls under federal oversight.

“Sports prediction contracts are sports bets — just with a different name,” Schiff said in a statement announcing the bill’s introduction. “These contracts are currently offered in all fifty states in clear violation of state and federal law.”

“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 said.

Created in 1974, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has the exclusive right under the federal Commodity Exchange Act to regulate futures, options and swaps for registered commodities entities. Several prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket, have registered with the CFTC as a type of derivative exchange called a designated contract market.