Utah Makes Plans Aiming To Ban Prediction Markets
David Genge Published 20/05/2026
If there's a state in the union that's unlikely ever to welcome legal and regulated gambling, it would be Utah. With a significant portion of the population being devout Mormons, there is simply no appetite in the state for any form of gambling. And that includes the newest game on the block, prediction markets.
Federally regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), prediction markets are eligible to offer event contracts in all 50 states. Conservative Utah is fighting this plan and will do everything in its power to ban prediction market sites from operating in Utah.
Utah government leaders are prepared to fight against prediction markets
Will Utah be fighting the prevalence of prediction market sites in the state?
You can bet on it.
That's what Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a letter he penned for the opinion pages of the Deseret News.
“I was recently asked whether I plan to do anything about the rapid rise of prediction market apps that are now operating in Utah,” Brown wrote. “My response? You can bet on it.
"Betting. Wagering. Trading on futures. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. As Utah’s attorney general, I view this as a distinction without a difference."
Utah Governor Spencer Cox took CFTC chairman Michael Selig to task after Selig defended prediction markets, claiming the sports event contracts they offer are not gambling.
"Mike, I appreciate you attempting this with a straight face, but I don’t remember the CFTC having authority over the 'derivative market' of LeBron James rebounds," Cox posted on X. "These prediction markets you are breathlessly defending are gambling—pure and simple. They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men.
"They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States, to beat you in court."
Utah officials are ready to do battle with President Trump
Conservative Republicans are in power in Utah. Generally, they tend to be in lockstep with President Donald Trump on policy issues. However, that's not the case when it comes to Trump's backing of prediction markets.
Utah's Republican-controlled state government is on the same page as Brown. They are prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to shut prediction markets out of their state.
“We have a president who operates casinos,” Utah Republican State Senator Brady Brammer told The Guardian. “He clearly has no problem with gambling, and so it’s not overly surprising that his agency heads, particularly in this space, are much more gamble-friendly than they previously have been, but Utah is not.
"It doesn’t matter whether it’s Trump, or [Joe] Biden, or whatever administration it is, we’re going to stand up for what we believe needs to happen in Utah."
Kalshi is preparing to fight back
There are already approximately 20 lawsuits ongoing across the USA in relation to the operation of prediction market sites. So what's one more?
That appears to be the approach that leading prediction market site Kalshi is taking toward Utah's proposal to ban them from the state. The company is already seeking a court injunction against a potential prediction market ban in Utah.
“Whether a state has gambling operations or whether they ban it is irrelevant to federal law, which says you can have a nationwide exchange for event contracts," Kalshi said in a statement.
“This is for the CFTC to decide, not the states.”