The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) has written to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as part of a submission to a planned public roundtable on the legitimacy of sports-related event contracts within the US-wide predictions market.
The CFTC has stated that the goal of the roundtable is to develop a robust administrative record with data, expert reports, and public input from a variety of stakeholder groups to inform the Commission’s approach to the oversight of prediction markets, including sports-related event contracts. Until now, there is no federal regulation of internet sport betting, with individual states overseeing the expansion of betting markets.
CFG is of the view is that gambling should be permitted but not promoted. We oppose expanding state online gambling as currently operated, as this results in increased detriments of personal, social and economic harms. However, we also recognize the differences that will apply to a prediction market and therefore do not have the same concerns.
CFG has written to the Commission to state its support of the legalization of sports betting prediction, on the condition that legislators and the administration instigate the following actions:
- Prompt and aggressive enforcement action against illegal operators
- Consideration of a temporary moratorium on the expansion of state online gambling
- Consideration of a review of state online gambling regulation standards
- Bad actors of state licensed online gambling to be excluded from prediction markets
Derek Webb, founder and funder of CFG, said, “Proponents of state-regulated internet gambling make misleading representations of the alleged standards and benefits. Prediction markets will not offer the most addictive gambling content of smartphone slot games.”
See our full submission document here.