Mormon leader Christofferson names Kalshi, calls prediction markets 'morally wrong'
D. Todd Christofferson, a Mormon leader, denounced sports gambling and prediction markets during the first session of general conference in Salt Lake City on October 3, 2026. He specifically named prediction market platform Kalshi and said it is 'destroying lives.' Christofferson claimed data supports his position and argued the activity fosters greed, particularly among youths, while producing nothing of value. The remarks add a prominent religious voice to cultural opposition against event-contract and sports-betting platforms.
Religious condemnation from a globally recognized faith leader reframes prediction markets as a moral issue, not merely a regulatory one. Christofferson's Kalshi-specific attack gives state legislators a cultural shield for restrictive bills, especially in conservative states where Mormon political influence runs deep. Platforms have spent millions distinguishing event contracts from sports betting in legal briefs and marketing; a trusted religious voice collapsing that distinction exposes that investment.
Kalshi faces the most immediate risk, since Christofferson named it directly and Utah-style moral framing spreads quickly to adjacent statehouses. The timing matters: Ohio and Tennessee have already pierced federal preemption on gambling grounds, and New York is suing Polymarket on the same theory. Moral authority layered onto legal vulnerability tightens the squeeze. Event-contract operators now confront a three-front fight — state courts, federal rule delays, and shifting public morality — with no single battle clearly winnable before the next state legislature convenes.
This is the second day of high-profile Mormon opposition to prediction markets, after D. Todd Christofferson's initial gambling-framing remarks diverged from Trump's supportive stance on the industry and New York and Polymarket filed dueling lawsuits over state gambling authority.