Maryland regulators copied casino lobbyists' letter attacking prediction markets
Maryland gaming regulators sent the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) a letter in April 2025 that was drafted by casino lobbyists from the American Gaming Association (AGA). The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency forwarded the material with only minor wording changes. The letter targeted prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket. The disclosure comes as the CFTC weighs oversight of event contracts tied to sports and gaming outcomes.
The revelation that Maryland passed off industry-authored criticism as official government comment guts the credibility of state opposition to CFTC-registered platforms. Kalshi and Polymarket can now argue in pending preemption fights that regulator letters carry lobbyist fingerprints, not independent state judgment. That framing weakens the position of Minnesota, Michigan, and other states pressing similar challenges.
The CFTC itself may discount state input as it finalizes its June 10 proposal on sports event contracts. For platform legal teams, the Maryland disclosure is fresh ammunition to demand discovery on whether other state submissions share the same provenance. A single court accepting that argument would force states to produce drafts and correspondence, exposing the depth of casino industry coordination.
Joins Kalshi's multi-state gaming regulator fights as the second recent revelation of state officials amplifying industry-authored opposition to CFTC-registered prediction market platforms, after Michigan's temporary restraining order and parallel challenges in Minnesota and Utah.