The New York State Senate’s Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee advanced a bill on Wednesday that could block prediction market platforms from offering certain event contracts.
Key Takeaways
- The Senate gaming committee voted 6-0 to advance the prediction market bill.
- The proposed law would ban markets associated with sports, politics, death, and other categories.
- Other provisions include an age requirement and an insider information ban.
S9414, which is linked to the ORACLE Act, would prohibit New Yorkers under 21 from purchasing contracts and ban any markets associated with sports, politics, death, catastrophic events, and security events.
The subcommittee voted 6-0 to send the bill to the Senate’s Finance Committee. This is the first movement for S9414, which was introduced in March. The New York legislature ends next month, so the bill only has a little over two weeks to advance or it will have to be carried over in the 2026-2027 session.
The ORACLE Act, or S9251a, calls for regulation and oversight of prediction markets. The bill was introduced last November by Democratic Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, but the legislation hasn’t moved since March, when it was amended and recommitted to the Assembly’s Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee.
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Battle against prediction markets
The New York sports betting market is the most lucrative and thriving regulated market in the U.S.
The state has been fighting to keep prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from operating there, since many of them offer sports contracts on the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and other sports that residents find on licensed sportsbooks.
In other prediction market news, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against New York last month after the Attorney General took legal action against prediction market platforms Coinbase and Gemini Titan. Now, lawmakers are looking to halt what they believe is illegal gambling.
“Like the pre-flipper pinball machines, sweepstakes cafes, sweepstakes gambling, and many other schemes that preceded it, prediction markets have rebranded old-fashioned wagering as 'trading,’ inviting the public to buy and sell positions on real-world events with an expected payoff,” the bill, introduced by Democratic Sen. Joseph Addabbo, states under its justification.
“Yet whatever wrapper prediction markets are placed in does not change the substance. The constant throughline throughout history is simple: when a product hits the three classic elements – consideration, prize, and chance – states can treat it as gambling regardless of the label. Prediction markets are the latest wrapper.”
Other bill provisions
S9414 adds several other provisions, including a prohibition on insider information being used for profit from prediction markets. The legislation calls for self-exclusion measures, at-risk and consumer safeguards, and requirements for trading exchanges to report their settled-market sources.
There are restrictions on advertising, funding with credit cards and gift certificates, and market making. The bill says that the New York Attorney General regulates penalties associated with the proposed law.
“This bill does not outlaw innovation. It prohibits predatory and policy-offensive markets,” the legislation states. “It protects consumers, preserves election and market integrity, and ensures our states' licensing system actually means something. It ensures that it means something not just for operators who play by the rules, but for the residents those rules are meant to protect.”
