Maryland Gaming Agency Sent Near-Verbatim 2025 Lobby Letter to CFTC on Prediction Markets
Updated
Updated · Reason · Jul 6
Maryland Gaming Agency Sent Near-Verbatim 2025 Lobby Letter to CFTC on Prediction Markets
3 articles · Updated · Reason · Jul 6
Summary
Public records show Maryland’s gaming agency sent the CFTC an April 2025 letter urging a crackdown on sports prediction markets that closely mirrored a draft from the American Gaming Association.
Three paragraphs were almost word-for-word identical, with only minor edits such as changing “bodies” to “body,” while one copied line still referred to safeguards in “each of our states.”
A Maryland spokesman said the agency had independently evaluated the issue, but the records raise questions about regulators acting in line with casino operators that see Kalshi and Polymarket as competitive threats.
The dispute lands amid a broader fight over whether sports event contracts belong under federal commodities oversight or state gaming regulation, a boundary likely to be tested in court.
With billions at stake in prediction markets, will federal regulators or state laws ultimately have the final say?
Amid insider trading scandals, can new CFTC rules truly safeguard the integrity of sports prediction markets?
Are regulators protecting consumers from prediction markets, or are they protecting casinos from competition?
The Maryland Incident and the $1 Billion Prediction Market Dispute: State vs. Federal Gambling Regulation
Overview
The Maryland Incident highlights growing concerns about the independence of state regulators and the influence of industry lobbyists, as trade associations like the American Gaming Association provide template letters for officials. This close relationship between regulators and the industries they oversee raises ethical questions about regulatory capture and the need for clear boundaries to ensure fair governance. At the same time, the rapid expansion of prediction markets such as Kalshi has sparked a major legal conflict over whether these platforms should be regulated as financial derivatives at the federal level or as gambling products by states, underscoring the ongoing struggle for regulatory clarity and integrity.