House Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Ban Sports Prediction Markets Nationwide
Reps. Steven Horsford and Mark Amodei filed the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, a House bill that would bar Kalshi, Polymarket, and other CFTC-registered platforms from listing sports and casino-style event contracts.
Two Nevada representatives introduced a bipartisan bill this week aimed at shutting down sports betting disguised as financial trading. Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV) and Mark Amodei (R-NV) filed the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act on July 23, a House measure that would bar federally registered trading platforms from listing sports and casino-style event contracts nationwide.
The bill lands as prediction market operators like Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded rapidly into sports-related contracts, drawing sharp pushback from state regulators, tribal gaming authorities, and the traditional sportsbook industry, all of whom argue these products amount to unlicensed, untaxed sports betting operating under the guise of commodities trading.
What the Bill Would Actually Do
The legislation would amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit any contract tied to a sporting event, an athletic competition, or a casino-style game from being listed, cleared, or traded through a platform registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Casino-style games are defined broadly in the bill text, covering slot machines, video poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, bingo, lotteries, and simulations of those activities. Sporting events are defined just as broadly, sweeping in amateur, collegiate, and professional competitions where a participant’s performance determines an outcome or statistical result.
Notably, the bill carves out legitimate hedging instruments. Weather contracts, economic-data contracts, and similar products would remain untouched and stay under the CFTC’s jurisdiction. Backers of the legislation argue a wager on the Super Bowl doesn’t become a financial product simply because a trading app is the one selling it.
The measure also includes a rule of construction stating that nothing in federal law preempts state or tribal authority over gaming, an attempt to resolve the jurisdictional standoff directly in statute rather than through years of CFTC rulemaking and the litigation that would likely follow. Any restriction created by the bill would apply only to contracts entered into after it takes effect.
A House Companion to a Senate Bill Already in Motion
The House measure mirrors a Senate version introduced back in March by Sens. John Curtis (R-UT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) signing on as a co-sponsor. Together, the two chambers now have companion legislation working through the same core framework, which supporters describe as a bipartisan, bicameral effort to close what they call a federal loophole.
American Gaming Association President and CEO Bill Miller praised the bill, saying it “reinforces Congressional intent that gaming is governed by state and tribal law” and framing the House and Senate efforts as a joint push to “protect consumers, uphold state and tribal authority on regulating gaming, and stop so-called ‘prediction markets’ from offering backdoor sports betting that is siphoning billions of dollars in tax revenue from local communities across America.”
The bill’s introduction follows a July 22 hearing before the House Agriculture Subcommittee, where witnesses from the AGA, tribal gaming, and both sides of the CFTC-authority debate testified. Subcommittee Chair Dusty Johnson said Congress “cannot afford to be silent” on the issue, signaling there’s real work ahead even if the path to passage remains uncertain given divided views within the Agriculture Committee itself.
What Happens Next
For now, the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act is a statement of intent rather than an imminent ban. It still needs to clear committee and find floor time in a chamber where appetite for CFTC oversight varies by party. But its introduction adds real momentum to a broader legislative push that already includes a companion Senate bill and testimony pointing regulators toward a statutory fix rather than a rulemaking fight.
For bettors following the fast-moving prediction markets space, the fight over whether platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket can keep offering sports contracts is far from settled, and this bill is the clearest sign yet that Congress intends to have the final say rather than leaving it to the CFTC or the courts.