Bill blasted
US Rep. Dina Titus is taking heavy fire on social media after she launched a bill to ban prediction market (PM) firms from offering contracts on sporting events or “casino-style games.”
should not “be able to circumvent state gaming laws”
The Las Vegas Democrat took to X on Tuesday to introduce her Fair Markets and Sports Integrity Act, stating the controversial vertical should not “be able to circumvent state gaming laws:”
Titus’ bill ignores new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig’s recent announcement that new rules for sporting event contracts will be forthcoming.
The move by the Congresswoman, who also co-chairs the Congressional Gaming Caucus, was met with derision by many gamblers who urged Titus to instead focus on getting her Fair Bet act passed.
Battles royale
The Congresswoman’s bill lands amid a climate of pitched legal battles between state regulators and prediction market firms across the US, and continues Titus’ own fight against PMs she began one year ago after urging the CFTC to take action against the “backdoor vertical.”
While Fair Markets has received support on X from the likes of ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who praised Titus for entering “this very necessary debate with common sense,” many gamblers reacted badly to her PM bill.
They have instead urged Titus to concentrate on getting her Fair Bet act passed, which will restore their full 100% deduction of gambling losses on federal income tax returns. The Congresswoman’s Fair Bet Act won both bipartisan and gambling industry trade body support.
Replies to Titus’ post on X included @greengreen1818’s: “Please focus on the fair bet act it is 100x more Important.” Sports betting manager Mike Maher echoed that sentiment which his comment: “Let’s focus on the FAIR BET ACT, Dina.”
erase a lot of the goodwill she had gained from gamblers”
Prolific professional sports bettor Captain Jack Andrews meanwhile commented that Titus’ Fair Markets bill was a bad move that “will erase a lot of the goodwill she had gained from gamblers and for what?”
According to industry reports, many gamblers want prediction markets to continue because they offer an exchange for bettors who are otherwise limited by how much they’re permitted to wager at traditional sportsbooks.
Enter the politicians
Another fresh twist to the polarizing debate is what industry adviser and investor Chris Grove called the increasing “politicization of the prediction market issue.”
Grove warned that while PMs were not essentially a partisan issue, they were “lurching towards becoming one.”
While gambling matters tend to blur party lines, most Washington Republicans are loyal to President Donald Trump, despite holding office in states that might be fighting PMs in court, and as such are likely to follow the current White House’s pro-PM lead.
