Chris Christie Calls Prediction Markets “Rogue Cowboys” in AGA Earnings Update

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has continued to speak out against prediction markets, appearing on the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) earnings update on Thursday. 

During a fireside chat hosted by the AGA, Christie called prediction market apps “rogue cowboys” and said industry bodies needed to “act now” or regret it later, in response to growing uneasiness about their regulation. 

He started the discussion by saying that sports event contacts offered by operators like Kalshi and Polymarket are illegal, arguing that they undermine states' sovereignty by taking away the decision on whether to legalize sports betting. He added that this move by prediction markets was “disrespectful” to the laws of all 50 states. 

"Now what these predictive markets are doing is going into the 40 states where there's a regulatory scheme and saying, we're not going to comply... And in the 10 states who said we don't want regulated casino gaming... We're gonna bring it to you anyway,” Christie said. 

Continuing on, Christie said that prediction markets lack consumer protections, alleging that prediction markets are “taking advantage” of consumers by taking away certain protections, as well as not enforcing responsible gambling measures. 

"[Sportsbooks] are required to be able to provide advice on Responsible Gambling, to provide outlets to people who wind up having problems... Predictive markets are not involved in that at all. They don't get involved in it. They don't provide those assets.”

Another key detail was that prediction markets appear to mislead consumers, “blurring the line” between gambling and investing. Christie went as far as to add that these products were also being marketed towards teenagers, “they’re marketing directly to folks 18 or older… You don’t have that in our industry.”

Concluding his thoughts, Christie criticized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for trying to regulate gambling and urged states and industry bodies to fight back against the expansion of prediction markets. 

"These predictive market folks are rogue cowboys in an industry that took a long time to birth,” he said. "What they're counting on is that we won't fight them... If we don't act now, we're going to be regretting not acting later. So we should get to work."

AGA President disagrees with CFTC’s regulatory powers

Taking the same stance as Christie, AGA President Bill Miller added in the earnings update that the AGA would continue to lead the fight against prediction markets to protect the backbone of the sports betting industry. 

Before the update, and in response to comments made by CFTC chairman Michae Selig, Miller reaffirmed this week that he did not agree with Selig’s assertion that only the CFTC could regulate prediction markets.  

In an episode of gambling analyst Steve Ruddock’s Straight to the Point podcast, Miller discussed how the AGA has made it clear that it believes that the event contracts that are offered by prediction markets have been encroaching on the gambling industry for the past year, especially sports betting.  

Miller added that he thinks states and others in the gambling industry will be successful in fighting prediction markets in court, despite Selig stating that the CFTC will come to the defense of prediction market operators in the over 50 lawsuits currently happening across the US.