Tribal gaming representatives urged Congress to intervene in sports prediction markets, arguing that event contracts can function like sports wagers while avoiding requirements applied to tribal and state-regulated gaming.
The concerns emerged during an August 4 Senate Indian Affairs Committee roundtable.
Tribes Question Sports Contract Classification
Operators argue that sports event contracts qualify as financial derivatives under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jurisdiction. Tribal representatives and several states dispute that position.
Senate Indian Affairs Committee Vice Chairman Brian Schatz said consumers can wager on an NBA championship through either a sportsbook or prediction-market application.
“The consumer experience is exactly the same,” Schatz said, calling the products “a workaround of both federal gaming law, generally speaking, and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”
Jamie Hummingbird, chairman of the National Tribal Gaming Commissioners & Regulators, said changing the terminology does not alter the activity.
“Relabeling the wager as an event contract or prediction market or derivative does not change what it is.”
Tehassi Hill, vice chairman of the Indian Gaming Association and chairman of the Oneida Nation, said prediction markets offer products comparable to sportsbooks. Hill said tribes spend more than $450 million annually on gaming regulation and employ more than 6,000 people in related functions.
CFTC Role Draws Tribal Objections
National Congress of American Indians President Mark Macarro said operators are using commodities law to avoid the framework created through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
“So make no mistake, nothing in the legislative history of the CEA suggests that Congress ever intended the CFTC to become a backdoor regulator of gaming,” Macarro said.
Hummingbird said, “The CFTC is not a gaming regulator,” arguing that the agency lacks the gaming-specific oversight provided by tribal and state authorities.
Macarro also called for formal consultation between the CFTC and tribal governments.
“The CFTC must engage in meaningful consultation with tribal nations. Consultation is not a courtesy,” he said. “It is a legal and moral obligation the federal government owes to sovereign tribal governments.”
CLARITY Act and Revenue Concerns
Tribal representatives warned that decentralized finance provisions in the CLARITY Act could create another route around gaming restrictions. Hill asked Congress to preserve IGRA and state and tribal gambling laws.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján raised concerns about a DeFi exemption. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman initially said, “Crypto is not prediction markets, so I think you need to build your case.” Committee staff later said alternative language had been developed.
Tribal representatives warned prediction markets could affect gaming revenue supporting public services. Sen. Lisa Murkowski noted that tribal gaming generated a record $46.2 billion during fiscal 2025. Hill said the Indian Gaming Association is conducting a national analysis, while Macarro estimated about a 5% impact in California.
Ohio Solicitor General Mathura Sridharan said gambling and commodities rules address different risks. Public Health Advocacy Institute gambling policy director Harry Levant said six members of his recovery group had returned to gambling through prediction markets after believing they were investing.
Hill urged Congress to advance the bipartisan Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, S. 4160, which would prohibit CFTC-regulated entities from listing sports and casino-style event contracts.
Source:
“Tribal Leaders Warn Congress Prediction Markets Bypass IGRA”, gamblinginsider.com, August 6, 2026
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