The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has canceled a planned roundtable that was expected to address the status of sports-related event contracts, creating new questions for companies like Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com.
The roundtable, first announced in February, intended to bring together tribal organizations, sports betting operators, state regulators, professional sports leagues and prediction market platforms to discuss whether sports predictions are a tradable commodity or unregulated sports betting.
It is unclear whether the agency plans to reschedule or reformat the event.
“The roundtable is canceled. There is no update right now on when it will be rescheduled. More details will be provided when available,” a CFTC spokesperson said in an email.
Shift in strategy leaves future unclear
Last Friday, a CFTC official told Sportico that the roundtable was being reworked into “more of a forum or hearing” that would include “several panels representing a broad array of stakeholder viewpoints.” However, the agency has not issued a public update since. News of the cancellation was first reported by the Event Horizon newsletter.
The CFTC has received 29 public comments since announcing the roundtable.
Acting Chair Caroline Pham has emphasized in past statements that the CFTC wants to take a “holistic” and “forward-looking” approach to prediction markets, avoiding “regulation by enforcement.”
Critics including tribal gaming organizations, Major League Baseball, and the American Gaming Association argue that sports event futures are a form of unregulated gambling that bypasses state and tribal authority. Supporters, including Kalshi and several financial services firms, contend that these contracts are legitimate commodity products properly overseen by the CFTC.
Sports predictions dominate Kalshi volume
Kalshi entered the sports prediction space earlier this year, offering markets on the Super Bowl and March Madness. The move has drawn legal scrutiny in multiple states, as well.
Kalshi handled more than $500 million in volume on March Madness, according to company data. That is equal to roughly 16% of the total US betting volume that the AGA projected would be bet on the tournament going in.
Sports contracts accounted for 78% of Saturday and Sunday‘s total volume, according to Alfonso Straffon of iGamingAnalyst.com.
Kalshi recently received temporary restraining orders in both Nevada and New Jersey to continue offering sports contracts while court cases play out.
“We’re not necessarily very concerned [because] we are regulated at the federal level,” Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said earlier this month at a StrictlyVC event in San Francisco. “The state law doesn’t really apply.”
