New Working Group in Hawaii Assigned to Evaluate Legalization of Gambling

Hawaii has established the Tourism and Gaming Working Group to evaluate and develop a tourism and gambling policy framework, with results to be delivered for consideration next year.

The group, a 24-member panel that includes lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and gambling representatives, held its first meeting last week to discuss the illegal gambling market already in the state.

The panel is tasked with researching the costs of legalized Hawaii sports betting and gambling, the benefits it can bring to the state, and evaluating legislation from other states that have already legalized gambling. 

Additionally, the panel will be reviewing the planned mixed-use community surrounding Aloha Stadium and ships in Hawaii’s economic zone regarding the potential for gambling. 

Three to four of the seats are held by gaming companies, with three attending the first meeting, including Las-Vegas-based gaming and hospitality firm Marness Companies, sportsbook operator FanDuel, and casino operator Boyd Gaming. 

Other panel members include two academic experts, five state lawmakers, and four state agency leaders.

Bills to legalize gambling in Hawaii have been introduced for the past few years, but none have passed. In 2025, at least seven bills stalled, including two on lottery and gambling and three on sports wagering. 

One sports wagering bill, HB1308, made it past both the House and the Senate, but a final version could not be agreed upon before the end of the 2025 legislative session. 

The group will continue to work together once a month until at least September. 

FanDuel Predicts launches in all 50 states 

While a representative for FanDuel works in Hawaii to evaluate the legalization of gambling, the operator has recently announced that all 50 states, including Hawaii, now have access to its prediction market app, FanDuel Predicts.

At launch, the prediction market apps faced backlash for having either reduced or delayed responsible gaming protections compared to the platform's regulated sportsbook. According to Sportico, FanDuel Predicts, as well as rivals DraftKings Predict and Fanatics Markets, were found to feature only limited consumer safeguards at launch, including deposit limits and self-exclusion. 

Other tools, such as the gambling addiction hotline, session time tracking, and betting history visualizations, were not included. 

Later, FanDuel confirmed that it had added gambling hotline support to both its app and website. However, the failure to include these tools from the beginning highlights the tensions faced by prediction market operators. 

The markets have avoided using gambling-related language, as the products are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than states, allowing operators to offer sports-event markets where sports betting is currently illegal. 

While states are currently working to ban the prediction markets, FanDuel Predicts’ sports-event contracts are only operational in states without legalized sports betting, implying that the passage of gambling in Hawaii would greatly impact FanDuel down the road.