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Members of the US Senate heard from a five-person panel last week. The goal of the hearing was to ascertain appropriate regulatory authority over prediction markets.
The Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s “No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America” hearing began May 20. Senators heard from five industry stakeholders during the week-long proceeding.
The five-person panel included:
- Scott Sadin: Co-CEO of IC360
- Mary Beth Thomas: Executive director of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council
- Bill Miller: CEO of the American Gaming Association
- Harry Levant: Director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute
- Patrick McHenry: Former speaker of the House, now serving as senior advisor of the Coalition for Prediction Markets
The hearing was chaired by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who positioned its aims as the start of discussions on distinguishing between legal online sports betting and prediction markets like Polymarket.
“This does allow us to start to build where we should move in regulation and also looking at the division between what should be federal and what should be state and preserving those states’ rights in order to move forward with this.”
‘A sense of urgency’
After fielding questions from senators, panelists have until June 10 to provide additional responses or clarification.
Sen. John Hickenlooper, (D-Colorado), credited the participants’ willingness to provide insight on the issues surrounding the gaming and prediction industry.
“I feel that all five of you are willing and engaged to fix some of these serious, glaring problems, and I look forward to working with the chair to provide a sense of urgency. These are real people’s lives that are being negatively impacted right now.”
Senators focus on CFTC oversight
The federal Commodity Futures and Trading Commission currently oversees prediction markets, whereas gambling oversight takes place at the state level.
The CFTC has bristled at any perceived challenge to its regulatory purview, which was a primary focus of the hearing. Hickenlooper said the CFTC is “inexperienced and doesn’t have any real regulations around sports betting,” which was met with disagreement by McHenry.
“The CFTC is a cop on the beat, has the capacity to oversee this market, just as they’ve done with broader commodities marketplace that’s been around and well-versed for decades.”
Included in the question-and-answer session was Hickenlooper questioning McHenry about a 15-year-old TikTok influencer who claimed she made enough through Kalshi contracts to pay her rent for two years. Kalshi reportedly hired this teenager as a platform partner.
McHenry said he was not aware of those reports.
