Sporttrade founder Alex Kane submitted a comment to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on April 25 that ended with his intention to apply for no-action relief to offer sports contracts in all 50 states.
In September 2022, Sporttrade launched in New Jersey. It was the first prediction market platform to offer contracts on sports outcomes. Sporttrade also offers point spreads, over/unders, and futures.
However, it operates under state sports betting law instead of federal finance law. It has expanded to five states while CFTC-regulated prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Crypto.com have expanded into offering contracts on sports in all 50 states. Kane’s letter reads, in part:
“…Sporttrade is preparing a formal no-action relief request that in effect will demonstrate that Sporttrade can satisfy all Core Principles and reporting requirements to list a small, select set of sports contracts that we can demonstrate are within public interest.”
In a message to Prediction News on X, Kane explained why the application for no-action relief is so important:
“It’s imperative to provide our story and demonstrate to the public that we are the same thing as an event contract exchange venue.”
A gambling company calls sports contracts gambling
State gambling regulators have sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Robinhood over their sports contracts. Regulators have claimed that those contracts constitute illegal sports wagers. However, federal judges in Nevada and New Jersey have issued preliminary injunctions, anticipating that the CFTC will be the only regulator able to limit event contracts.
Amid this debate over which regulatory structure is best, prediction markets and gambling regulators have disagreed about whether sports contracts are “gaming.” Kane told Sportico “You’re not going to hear me say this [exchange trading] isn’t sports betting.”
Another part of this saga that I find interesting is Kalshi continuing to claim it isn’t sports betting when another sports prediction market says something different. pic.twitter.com/s3S7r3Npnn
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein_) April 30, 2025
Since Sporttrade is sports-focused, it views an early entrance into the national market as an existential issue. Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Robinhood are building customer bases that dwarf the total addressable market Sporttrade has in its five states. It was impossible to miss the scale that national exchanges had.
“A level playing field is all we’re asking for,” Kane said.
Great timing for federal regulation
Kane submitted his CFTC letter three days before New Jersey’s District Court became the second state to grant Kalshi a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Kalshi has sued three state regulators rather than stop offering sports contracts in those states.
After early tentative victories in Nevada and New Jersey for prediction markets, the timing to move from sports betting to finance seems opportune. However, one moment marked the origin of the no-action relief idea.
“The no-action idea was really struck the day Kalshi announced NFL contracts,” Kane said.
The popularity of platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have made consumers more aware of “the benefits of marketplaces” that Kane founded Sporttrade to offer.
For example, prediction markets offer superior live betting experiences and transparent pricing that traditional sportsbooks can’t match. Reaching a national customer base would also be a massive step toward disrupting the sports betting industry as Kane set out to do.
Kane has pointed out on X that he offers an identical product as Kalshi’s sports contracts but must operate under more onerous regulations one state at a time.
As Kalshi continues its legal battles across the United States, sports betting companies continue to watch for ways to enter one federal market instead of trying to operate within dozens of different regulatory frameworks. Sporttrade, given its product offering, may have a strong case.
