Prediction markets have become one of the most consequential issues facing the U.S. gambling industry, but the Sports Betting Alliance is deliberately staying on the sidelines.
- The Sports Betting Alliance has adopted no formal position on prediction markets, instead keeping its advocacy focused on expanding and strengthening state-regulated sports betting and iGaming while leaving individual members to pursue their own business strategies.
- SBA president Joe Maloney said prediction markets have become the gambling industry's biggest policy issue, helping draw lawmakers' attention to broader gambling regulation and prompting new questions in states without legalized sports betting.
- Despite several SBA members participating in prediction markets, the alliance said operators have not reported meaningful cannibalization of traditional regulated sportsbooks and continues to advocate exclusively for state-regulated gaming.
The trade group, which represents FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, and bet365, has not adopted a formal position on prediction markets, even as three of its members - DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics - now operate or have entered the emerging sector.
Instead, SBA president Joe Maloney told Covers the organization's mission remains centered on expanding and strengthening state-regulated sports betting and iGaming, leaving individual companies to determine their own business strategies.
"There's no formal position," Maloney said during an interview. "Certainly there's no advocacy on prediction markets with the SBA. We have some members that have chosen to launch prediction market products ... and others that have chosen not to."
That neutrality comes as prediction markets have become the dominant policy discussion across the gambling industry, drawing increasing scrutiny from state lawmakers and regulators while courts weigh whether federally regulated event contracts can continue offering sports-based markets nationwide.
"It is the most dynamic topic in the gambling world right now and in the state legislatures. Period. Full stop," Maloney said.
Focus on state-regulated sports betting, iGaming
Rather than lobbying for or against prediction markets, Maloney said the alliance is serving as a resource for policymakers trying to understand how the products fit alongside existing state-regulated gaming industries.
"We are in the business of strengthening the state-regulated market wherever it exists in the country, and we're in the business of continuing to expand that opportunity across the country," he said.
Maloney said the rapid emergence of prediction markets has actually helped focus legislators' attention on broader gambling policy issues. As sports event contracts have expanded into states without legalized mobile sports betting, lawmakers who previously viewed illegal gambling as an abstract concern are now seeing new wagering products advertised directly to their constituents.
"Prediction markets are proving 100% to be a momentum booster because no longer do we have to point to the illegal market bogeyman," Maloney said. "Legislators, specifically in non-legalized jurisdictions, are seeing the advertising and they're seeing their own state residents participate in the trading of sports event contracts, and they're asking questions."
Despite the attention surrounding prediction markets, Maloney said alliance members continue to report that regulated sportsbooks have not experienced meaningful business disruption.
"They're all continuing to say the same thing, that they're not seeing cannibalization at this time, and they continue to see the state-regulated sportsbook product being something that is both superior and very popular," Maloney said.
Maloney also emphasized the alliance has not discussed incorporating prediction markets into its legislative agenda, saying its advocacy remains focused on expanding legalized sports betting and iGaming on a state-by-state basis.
"We do not have a position on prediction markets," he said. "We don't advocate in the space."
Prediction market overview
The comments underscore the unusual position facing some of the industry's largest sportsbook operators. Several companies now participate in both regulated sports betting and prediction markets, while the industry's principal trade association continues to advocate exclusively for state-regulated gaming.
That distinction has become increasingly important as litigation over sports event contracts moves through the federal courts.
Prediction market operators and state gaming regulators have seen mixed results in a growing number of court battles and appeals. Many industry observers believe the conflict over the relationship between federal law and state gaming regulations could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The outcome could reshape how sports-related event contracts are regulated nationwide and determine whether states retain primary authority over products that closely resemble sports wagering or whether federal commodities law permits broader nationwide offerings.
Beyond the courtroom, prediction markets are also altering legislative conversations.
State lawmakers weighing sports betting or iGaming proposals are increasingly asking how prediction markets fit within existing regulatory frameworks, while gaming regulators have raised questions about consumer protections, licensing requirements, taxation, and responsible gambling standards.
The debate also carries competitive implications for the broader gambling industry.
Traditional sportsbooks operate under state licensing regimes that require tax payments, responsible gaming safeguards, age verification, compliance oversight, and ongoing regulatory supervision. Supporters of state gaming regulation argue those obligations create an uneven competitive environment if similar sports-related products can be offered under different regulatory structures or through full federal oversight.
Maloney declined to speculate whether prediction market companies could someday seek membership in the Sports Betting Alliance, calling the idea "a wild hypothetical" and saying he does not currently see alignment between their objectives and those of the organization.
For now, he said, the alliance's focus remains unchanged even as prediction markets dominate the industry's policy discussion.
"Of course, this is a topic that continues to present itself," Maloney said. "But we do not have a position on prediction markets."
