Sports Event Contracts: Public Opinion Landscape

Americans Overwhelmingly View Sports Event Contracts as Gambling

New American Gaming Association (AGA) research finds that Americans recognize sports event contracts offered through prediction markets as gambling, not financial instruments, and strongly support regulating them like other forms of legal sports betting.

Key Findings

85%

say sports event contracts are gambling, not a financial instrument.

80%

believe sports event contracts should be regulated like online sports betting.

84%

say they should only be available in state-licensed sportsbooks.

69%

believe each state should have the authority to decide whether sports event contracts are permitted.

70%

say prediction market platforms offering sports event contracts are exploiting loopholes to act as unlicensed sportsbooks.

Americans Expect State Oversight

Americans are clear: sports event contracts should be treated like other forms of sports betting and fall under state and tribal regulatory authority, not federal commodities regulators.

65% of Americans believe state and tribal gaming regulators—the same authorities that oversee legal sports betting today—should regulate sports evens contracts.
84% say these contracts should only be available through state-licensed sportsbooks in the states where they are offered, reinforcing public trust in existing consumer protections.
Nearly seven in ten Americans (69%) say that each state should decide whether to allow sports event contracts within its borders, underscoring the importance of state-level authority.

"With sports betting operational in 38 states and Washington, D.C., consumers expect prediction markets to follow the same rules and safeguards as state-licensed sportsbooks. This research makes clear: Americans know a sports bet when they see one—and they expect regulators and policymakers to treat them accordingly."
Bill Miller | President and CEO, American Gaming Association