Trump administration proposes new rules on prediction markets that would still allow most sports activity

Key Points:

• The Trump administration, through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), proposed new federal regulations for prediction markets that largely preserve the industry, including most sports-related markets.
• The rules aim to create a regulatory framework allowing federal oversight of sports markets vulnerable to manipulation, such as bets on player injuries, officiating outcomes, first-pitch contracts in baseball, player ejections, and potential future high school sports markets.
• Critics, including state regulators, addiction counselors, casino lobbyists, and some lawmakers, argue the proposal is too lenient, with calls for stricter measures like raising the minimum age to 21 and banning prop bets on individual athletes.
• Under current law, prediction markets are regulated as financial futures by the CFTC rather than as gambling by states, which has sparked legal challenges claiming these markets resemble traditional sports betting.
• Responses to the proposal are mixed: industry supporters praise the clarity it brings, while critics, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal and the American Gaming Association, denounce it as insufficient and overly favorable to prediction market platforms.