The American Gaming Association is leading a coalition of tribal groups and hospitality unions urging the Senate to insert language into pending crypto market-structure legislation that would bar prediction markets from offering sports wagers. The push squarely targets Kalshi and Polymarket.
The letter, dated June 16 and first reported by Semafor, was signed by the AGA, the Indian Gaming Association, the AFL-CIO's Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and UNITE HERE. The signatories want lawmakers to use the CLARITY Act to reaffirm that "sports betting falls outside the CFTC's remit and cannot be offered through prediction market platforms," per the letter text.
Prediction markets have "fueled the largest expansion of gambling in U.S. history over the past 18 months, without voter approval or legislative authorization," the coalition wrote, per Semafor. The letter frames sports event contracts as a regulatory end-run around state and tribal gaming statutes.
The AGA estimates states have lost roughly $1 billion in tax revenue to prediction markets since the start of 2025, a figure it shared with CNBC last month. Prediction-market operators contest that estimate.
The coalition is asking senators to clarify in CLARITY that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's authority over event contracts excludes sports wagering, leaving that activity to state regulators and the framework that governs licensed sportsbooks and tribal casinos.
