Titus Wants Prediction Markets to Halt Sports-Event Contracts
Jesse M. Cox Published 17/07/2026
Nevada Congresswoman Dana Titus has introduced legislation to prevent prediction market sites from offering sports-event contracts. She has introduced the Fair Markets and Sports Integrity Act, which would prohibit prediction market platforms from offering financial contracts tied to sporting events or casino-style games.
This legislation would specifically amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prevent prediction market platforms regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from listing agreements, contracts, or transactions that derive their value from athletic competitions. Titus believes that her bill would close the loophole that is enabling prediction markets to offer trades that are nothing more than sports betting in disguise.
Titus believes that her bill is a simple solution to an ongoing problem
Prediction market sites, the CFTC, and state gambling regulators are battling on several fronts. They're fighting over whether sports-event contracts are actually illegal sports betting.
"You may be asking yourself what differentiates these event contracts from traditional sportsbooks?" Titus wrote in an op-end for The Hill. "Are they a financial instrument? A derivative? A swap? An investment? A sports bet in disguise?
"And those are the very questions being asked right now in the halls of Congress and in courts throughout the country."
Titus represents Nevada's First Congressional District. She thinks that these sports-event contract offerings are utilizing a loophole to skirt state sports betting laws. She believes that this sidestepping of state regulators is creating a dangerous environment for players on prediction market sites.
"Letting these sports contracts fly under a federal derivatives umbrella creates an enormous oversight gap and allows prediction markets to operate without the same guardrails that apply to licensed, regulated gaming operators," Titus wrote. "This includes safeguards like age verification, responsible gaming programs, advertising limitations, and integrity monitoring."
Her bill would put a stop to this abuse of the law
Titus wants to see one of two things happen. Option 1 is that the prediction market sites acknowledge that their sports-event contracts are sports betting. They must adopt the necessary state regulations. The second choice is the complete abolition of sports-event contracts on prediction market sites.
"Sports event contracts create a backdoor mechanism to offer sports betting in states that have not authorized it,” Titus said. “The 39 states that have legalized sports betting have adopted strong safeguards for consumer protection, responsible gaming, anti-money laundering compliance, and independent integrity monitoring.
"Prediction market companies are evading these protections, leaving consumers, players, and the integrity of sports at risk. My legislation would end this illegitimate practice.”
It's time for prediction market sites to be accountable
Titus wants to see prediction market sites held accountable for what sports-event contracts really are.
"I introduced the Fair Markets and Sports Integrity Act to ensure that prediction markets cannot simply rebrand sports betting as a 'financial derivative' and evade the consumer safeguards that Nevada and other states and tribes have carefully put in place," Titus wrote.
"Ultimately, this is not just a debate about labels; it is a question of accountability. If it looks like sports betting, functions like sports betting, and carries the same risks as sports betting, then it should be regulated like sports betting.
"Congress and regulators must act to close this loophole. The longer we allow these markets to proliferate, the longer we normalize a system that obscures risk, fails to protect its consumers, siphons public tax dollars, and threatens the integrity of the games the public enjoys."