SI Predict went live in June, although its launch date remains fuzzy. Retired NBA player Dwight Howard has been appearing in social media ads for Sports Illustrated’s prediction market platform since mid-May. However, SI Predict hasn’t made an official press release about the product’s launch since Galactic announced the partnership forming the company and stating their SI Predict plans back in March 2025.
Notably, SI Predict is advertising its ability to circumvent both financial and gambling regulations. In its FAQ titled “Is SI Legal And Who Can Use It?” the company states:
SI Predict is structured to avoid the need for financial or gambling regulation under current interpretations. Markets are carefully chosen and worded by a compliance board to avoid regulated gambling products, meaning SI Predict steers clear of wagers that would require a gambling license. Because users trade stablecoin tokens rather than place traditional bets, and outcomes are verified via a decentralized network, SI Predict occupies a compliant niche that allows broad participation.
In other words, the company can accept wagers wherever cryptocurrencies are available. News of this platform’s launch was first reported by the Event Horizon.
It’s similar to another type of regulatory scheme that state legislatures are cracking down on in the gambling industry: sweepstakes gaming sites.
SI Predict takes crypto approach to sweepstakes
Sweepstakes casinos have come under fire as state lawmakers have passed bills prohibiting them in their states. The sweepstakes model allows customers to either play games for free (with play money) or use a premium currency (which you purchase for real money) to bet. Players can then redeem the platform’s premium currency for real money.
That model sounds much like SI Predict’s business model. All transactions are made in USDC, a cryptocurrency whose value is tied to the U.S. dollar. Traders make deposits with their crypto wallets, use their wallets to make withdrawals, then have the option to convert their USDC tokens back into real U.S. dollars.
SI Predict may use its business model and question selection process to avoid financial and gambling regulations. However, even a permissive regulator could face the limits of its patience with an unregulated crypto prediction market.
What you can bet on at SI Predict
As outlined in their March presser, the SI Predict platform provides fan engagement opportunities by allowing fans to bet on “lifestyle moments adjacent to live sports events.”
Those moments include a number of sports adjacent markets related to what commentators will say during games, who will attend a specific sporting event, and even whether or not a specific crowd engagement event will take place during commercial breaks. Here’s a look at some of the markets currently available for USDC predictions at SI Predict.
They also have Dwight Howard-related markets as the former NBA star serves as the lead spokesperson for the new crypto prediction site. Howard has been been appearing in ads on SI Predict’s Instagram page since May 19 and started tagging SI Predict in his own social posts more recently. The site is currently running an ad campaign called “Gamers vs. Greats” that pits three famous gamers against NBA greats Howard plus Iman Shumpert and Demarcus Cousins.
Where will new CFTC draw its lines?
Trump’s nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Brian Quintenz, testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing. He didn’t say whether he would categorically ban sports contracts despite their similarities to sports wagers. However, he reaffirmed his belief that all events are commodities, indicating that any event contracts could be legally traded on a financial exchange.
SI Predict could be an early test of each part of that professed belief. Even though the platform is offering prop bets to get around gambling regulations, financial regulations could change unfavorably for the platform. Additionally, the CFTC is poised to become crypto’s primary regulator in the United States. If Quintenz wants contracts like SI Predict’s on a CFTC-regulated platform, then the platform’s crypto workaround may not be enough to protect itself from regulatory scrutiny.
Even regulated platforms like Kalshi are facing intense legal challenges from sports contracts. It’s unclear how long SI Predict will escape similar scrutiny, even with its crypto-sweepstakes rules.
