CME CEO Slams Sports Prediction Bets as 99% of Exchange Volume Comes From Sports

1 articles · Updated · Sportico · Jul 22

Terry Duffy said sports prediction contracts look like gambling and could end up at the Supreme Court, a sharp public break from CME’s own role in listing and processing such wagers.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the CFTC had certified three CME sports wager types—tennis, golf and college football—while more than 99% of Tuesday’s notional volume on CME’s prediction market exchange came from sports.
Duffy also attacked affiliated market makers, saying companies that trade on exchanges in which they have a financial interest create credibility and conflict concerns; FanDuel uses that model and has called market making a revenue opportunity.
CME tried to narrow the dispute, saying Duffy was referring to individual-performance bets, combos and parlays that CME does not offer, even though CME and FanDuel launched a joint venture in which CME paid $10.2 million for a 51% stake.
The tension extends beyond rhetoric: FanDuel Predicts has begun routing bets through Nadex as well as CME, and FanDuel has applied to broker prediction-market trades without CME involvement.