Charles Schwab chief executive Rick Wurster said prediction markets have shifted from markets tied to economic indicators to sports betting. He estimated that sports account for 95% of current activity and said the platforms are using the model to bypass state gambling rules.
Wurster’s assessment highlights the dispute over whether sports prediction markets fall under state gambling rules.
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Flutter Entertainment chief executive Peter Jackson said regulated online sports betting offers a better product than prediction markets. He said prediction markets grow where no licensed betting offer exists, leaving illegal bookmakers as their only competitor.
Kalshi Chief Executive and co-founder Tarek Mansour said the company's legal challenges reflect resistance from established gambling businesses as prediction markets grow. New York has sued Kalshi, alleging its event contracts breach state gambling law; Kalshi maintains that the CFTC, rather than state regulators, oversees its markets.
Kalshi co-founder and chief executive Tarek Mansour argued at a Washington event that prediction markets depend on skill rather than traditional betting. He said 25% to 33% of users finish a year in profit, while US public-health experts and gambling businesses dispute the model’s character and regulatory treatment.
RSI CEO Richard Schwartz said states could legalise online casino gambling at an accelerated rate. He linked the possibility to states seeking ways to replace sports-betting tax revenue that prediction markets might displace.
DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins discussed early football-season data on the operator’s sports betting and prediction-markets activity. He said future success did not depend on sports contracts surviving a Supreme Court challenge, according to the report.