Sports Betting Alliance Takes No Formal Position on Prediction Markets Despite Member Split

The Sports Betting Alliance, the trade group representing FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, and bet365, says it has no formal stance on prediction markets — even though three of its own members now operate in that exact space. SBA president Joe Maloney told Covers this week that the organization’s advocacy remains focused squarely on expanding and defending state-regulated sports betting and iGaming, leaving prediction markets as a business decision for each operator individually.

“There’s no formal position,” Maloney said. “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.”

A Trade Group Straddling Two Products

The split within the SBA’s own membership underscores just how quickly the prediction market boom has reshaped the industry. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have all launched federally regulated prediction market products over the past several months, competing directly with Kalshi and Polymarket in states where traditional sports betting isn’t yet legal — and in some cases, states where it already is. BetMGM and bet365, meanwhile, have stayed out of the space entirely.

That divide would normally put pressure on a trade association to pick a side, especially with prediction markets now drawing sustained attention from state regulators, attorneys general, and lawmakers who argue the platforms sidestep licensing requirements, age verification, and responsible gambling safeguards that regulated sportsbooks must follow. Maloney, however, said the alliance has no plans to change course. “We do not have a position on prediction markets,” he said. “We don’t advocate in the space.”

No Reported Cannibalization, For Now

Despite the rapid rise of prediction markets — federally regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state gaming regulators — Maloney said SBA members aren’t seeing meaningful business disruption from the format. “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,” he said.

Maloney added that the SBA has not discussed folding prediction markets into its legislative agenda and instead continues to lean on its long-standing message: expand and strengthen the state-by-state regulated model. That approach hasn’t stopped prediction markets from becoming a dominant talking point across the industry, with bettors weighing options ranging from traditional sportsbooks to newer platforms and even Kalshi promo code offers as the category expands into more states.

Asked whether prediction market operators like Kalshi or Polymarket could eventually seek membership in the SBA, Maloney called the idea “a wild hypothetical,” saying he doesn’t currently see alignment between their objectives and the alliance’s mission. For now, the SBA appears content to let its members chart their own paths while the broader debate over prediction markets’ place in U.S. gambling law continues to play out state by state.