New Jersey lawmakers are taking a swing at prediction markets with a new bill that would establish a state regulatory framework for the industry while also authorizing licensed athletic event markets.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced S 4447 seeking to regulate prediction markets as New Jersey fights to secure jurisdiction over the industry. Scutari’s bill would also prohibit certain public officers and employees from trading in or benefiting from prediction market contracts, according to the bill summary posted in legislative tracking materials.
The measure lands as sports predictions remain one of the most contested issues in gambling policy, with states, operators and federal regulators all fighting over who gets to define the rules of the road. It comes as several other states have passed laws attempting to regulate them, too.
What NJ prediction markets bill does
The bill does three main things:
- Establish a regulatory framework for predictions in New Jersey.
- Authorize licensed athletic event markets, which would likely create a separate category for event contracts tied to sports outcomes.
- Prohibit certain public officers and employees from participating, presumably to avoid conflicts of interest and insider-style trading concerns.
That combination makes the bill more ambitious than a simple restriction measure. It would not just limit predictions operators but try to bring them into a state-licensed framework.
Why it matters
New Jersey has long been one of the most important states in U.S. sports betting, and any move there tends to carry outsized influence. A bill that formally recognizes athletic event markets could become a model for other states if jurisdiction eventually falls locally rather than left solely to federal oversight.
It also adds to the growing state-level pushback and counterproposal effort around prediction markets.
Attorneys general, lawmakers and industry groups have been pressing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on where regulatory jurisdiction falls for prediction markets.
Prediction markets hung up in court
The New Jersey proposal comes while the CFTC is still working through its prediction markets rulemaking process. The agency has asked for public comment on issues such as public interest bans, insider information concerns and how event contracts should be treated under federal law.
That comes as the CFTC and prediction market operators like Kalshi are embroiled in more than two dozen lawsuits across the country arguing jurisdiction.
One of those lawsuits include New Jersey. In April, a federal appeals court ruled the state cannot prevent Kalshi from operating in the state.
Other states taking action
A coalition of prediction markets sued Kentucky this month over the state’s law that will create a 14.25% tax on the industry. The suit calls the tax discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, the CFTC sued Minnesota attempting to block a law passed this year that bans prediction markets in the state.
In Illinois, lawmakers passed a budget that creates a regulatory and tax framework on the prediction markets industry.
