New Jersey SB 4447 would force prediction markets into sports betting licensing
New Jersey lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 4447 on June 11 to regulate prediction markets at the state level, with the bill published June 17, 2026. The legislation, introduced by state senators Nicholas Scutari and Paul Sarlo, would require prediction market operators offering sports event contracts to acquire a sports wagering license and would prohibit certain markets in the state. The bill establishes a regulatory and taxation framework for sports event contracts offered by prediction market platforms and targets the intersection of prediction markets and sports wagering by imposing existing sports betting licensing requirements on operators listing contracts tied to sporting outcomes.
Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket that list sports event contracts must now evaluate whether to pursue costly sports wagering licenses in New Jersey or geofence the state's 9 million residents. Any platform that ignores the bill risks enforcement action from New Jersey gaming regulators while the CFTC simultaneously claims federal exclusivity in court.
New Jersey joins Minnesota, Rhode Island, and New Mexico in the widening state-level crackdown on sports event contracts, even as the CFTC fights the same states in federal court to preserve its exclusive jurisdiction over federally registered platforms.