NEW YORK - There are things the American Gaming Association (AGA) likes about the second Trump administration, but the federal government creeping into oversight of the sports betting industry via event contracts does not sound like one.
AGA president and CEO Bill Miller spoke Thursday at the NEXT sports betting and iGaming summit in New York, and mentioned the current federal government and President Donald Trump pursuing policies such as no tax on tips, general deregulation, and making the U.S. the “crypto capital” of the world.
“We couldn't agree more,” Miller said. “But we also think that moving into the gaming space, moving into the gambling space, undoes or really disrupts something that has been really positive for decades.”
And this is not just about sports betting, Miller explained, as the gambling industry overall, such as brick-and-mortar casino gambling, tribal casinos, and iGaming, “has been run by 5,000 regulators” and authorized by state statutes.
A cryptic concern
Miller then cast doubt on the idea of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission having a role in overseeing legal sports betting, the vast majority of which still happens under the umbrella of state-level regulation.
“The notion that some semi-autonomous, semi-independent agency should now all of a sudden be the new place where sports betting takes place, and under the same frame that pork bellies, cotton, and orange juice futures should, seems not necessarily in line, or necessarily in line, with making America the crypto capital of the world,” Miller said.
The concerns from the head of the AGA echo comments the industry group has made to the CFTC, which has become a de facto regulator of sports wagering with the launch of sports event contracts by federally regulated exchanges Kalshi and Crypto.com.
For example, an AGA official warned the CFTC in February, as part of a comment process for an upcoming prediction markets roundtable, that “[b]y circumventing the important regulatory protections implemented by states, these platforms also raise the prospect of considerable consumer and marketplace harms.”
Stay in your lane
States won the right to regulate and permit sports betting through a lengthy legal battle that culminated in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2018.
But Miller’s latest concerns were voiced as more and more of those technically CFTC-regulated sports event contracts continue to trade, including single-game contracts that Kalshi has recently begun to offer.
Kalshi and Crypto.com are offering those products in a period of uncertainty and upheaval.
The uncertainty stems from the fact that the sports contracts are being self-certified by the companies and have not technically been approved by the CFTC. The agency even challenged Crypto's sports contracts in the final days of the previous, Joe Biden-led administration. However, there is now a new president and different leadership for the regulator.
Meanwhile, there is upheaval more broadly in the federal government, as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency continues to try to cut spending.
"I think that people in Washington today are constantly re-looking at ... what does it mean for them, what does it mean for their industry," Miller said. "And I think we're in the same boat."
Prediction markets like Kalshi are also competitors to state-regulated sportsbooks and are available in all 50 states, not just ones that have authorized sports wagering.
“In addition to a complete lack of tools and resources devoted to responsible gaming and problem gambling, these platforms are accessible to individuals who are 18+,” wrote Christopher Cylke, senior vice president of government relations, in a Feb. 20 letter to the CFTC. “That is in contrast to the vast majority of state-regulated markets that have set 21 as the minimum age to bet.”
American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller just spoke at the NEXT sports betting/iGaming summit in NYC and gave us "Bill Miller’s Gambling for Dummies," which is money goes into machine, app, something on the internet, stuff happens, and money comes back out or goes away.
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) March 13, 2025
Nevertheless, while Miller noted that gambling has traditionally been “the province of states and Indian country,” the AGA does believe there are roles for the federal government to play.
Miller's comments about the CFTC were prompted by a question about the various offshore threats and opportunities facing the industry. The AGA CEO suggested they'd like to see the Department of Justice and FBI actually get more active in addressing those issues.
Miller also pointed out that state regulators have had success with sending cease-and-desist letters to offshore operators, namely Bovada. Kalshi was recently hit with a similar request by Nevada regulators.
“I think that we can, and have shown, that we can be successful in making it harder for people that are unlicensed to do business,” Miller said. “And that's, quite frankly, our job, because my members … they go through that grind. They go to Jackson, Mississippi, and get fingerprinted and go through all of that stuff in order to be a licensed entity in that state. And so we think that, generally, if you're going to be in a business that looks and acts and operates like that, you have to go through that same process, too.”
