The IGA and AGA Just Launched a Joint Campaign to Kill Sports Prediction Markets in Washington

The two largest lobbying organizations in the American gaming industry have aligned against prediction markets, and they are now pressing Congress to act. On January 12, 2026, the American Gaming Association and the Indian Gaming Association issued a joint letter to members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives calling for Congress to use cryptocurrency market structure legislation to explicitly prohibit sports event contracts offered by CFTC-registered prediction market platforms. It is the clearest and most formal statement yet of where the organized gaming industry stands on the prediction markets question — and the stakes behind that position are significant.

Who the AGA and IGA Are and Why Their Alignment Matters

The AGA is the primary trade association for commercial and tribal casino, sports betting, and iGaming operators in the United States. The IGA represents more than 180 federally recognized tribal nations and has long been the principal advocate for tribal gaming sovereignty in Washington. These two organizations do not always agree — commercial and tribal gaming interests frequently diverge on licensing, tax policy, and market access. Their joint action on prediction markets is a signal that opposition to these platforms has transcended the usual fault lines within the regulated gaming industry.

Together, according to the letter signed by AGA President and CEO Bill Miller and IGA Chairman David Z. Bean, the two associations represent a regulated industry that generates $329 billion in annual economic impact, produces $53 billion in tax revenue, and supports 1.8 million jobs. That is the economic weight behind the lobbying push.

The Core Argument

The letter argues that sports event contracts offered on prediction market platforms are “indistinguishable from legal sports betting” and have grown exponentially since launching in January 2025 — expanding from single-game outcomes to multi-leg parlays and wagering on events like the collegiate transfer portal. The AGA and IGA contend that this expansion has occurred by exploiting regulatory inaction by the CFTC, which they say undermines state law, tribal sovereignty, and existing federal regulations.

Their legal argument rests on the CFTC’s own regulations, which under the Commodity Exchange Act prohibit event contracts regarding gaming or any activity that is unlawful under any state or federal law. The letter also cites the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, arguing that prediction markets are violating the exclusivity tribal governments hold over gaming products on their land, and the federal Wire Act, which prohibits cross-state sports wagering. According to 39 state attorneys general cited in the letter, the contracts are contrary to state laws as well.

The associations were also direct about the financial harm to regulated operators. “They rob state budgets and tribal finances while simultaneously forcing states and tribes to expend massive legal resources to defend their sovereignty,” the letter states. Prediction market platforms currently allow users as young as 18 to access sports wagering, compared to the 21-and-older age requirement in states with legal sports betting — a disparity the AGA and IGA highlighted as a consumer protection failure.

The Congressional Strategy

The timing of the letter was deliberate. A cryptocurrency market structure bill was introduced in the Senate on the same day, and the AGA and IGA explicitly called for language to be added to that legislation prohibiting sports event contracts on CFTC-registered platforms. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig had stated during his confirmation hearing that the agency would not rein in sports betting contracts on its own, but also indicated he would defer to Congress if lawmakers chose to act. The AGA and IGA are betting that the crypto bill is the most viable legislative vehicle for getting that language into law in the current Congress.

The letter represents the most coordinated industry push yet against prediction markets, and it arrives as the legal battle is escalating on multiple fronts. The CFTC has sued Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York in federal court to block state enforcement, while dozens of state attorneys general are fighting back in court. For anyone watching the prediction markets vs. sports betting fight, the AGA-IGA alignment is perhaps the most significant political development yet — not because it settles the legal question, but because it signals that the organized regulated gaming industry is now in full mobilization mode against these platforms.

Whether Congress responds is an open question. But for the first time, the two most powerful lobbying forces in gaming are working from the same script, and they are aiming at the same target.