Vast Majority of Americans View Sports Prediction Markets as Gambling, AGA Survey Finds

A Clear Public Consensus: It’s a Bet, Not a Stock

The research, conducted on behalf of the AGA by YouGov, revealed a clear and decisive public consensus on the nature of these products.

• A staggering 85 percent of Americans believe sports event contracts are most like gambling, while only 6 percent view them as being most like a financial instrument.

This public perception directly translates into a strong preference for a familiar regulatory structure. The survey found that 80 percent of Americans believe sports event contracts should be regulated in the same way as other forms of online sports betting.

State Oversight Preferred Over Federal Control

When asked which regulatory body should be in charge, the public’s preference was unambiguous.

• 65 percent of respondents believe these platforms should be overseen by state and tribal gaming regulators.
• In contrast, a much smaller portion of the public sides with the prediction markets’ own assertion that they should be regulated by the federal CFTC.

This desire for state-level control is further reinforced by the finding that 84 percent of Americans believe these sports-related contracts should only be available through state-licensed sportsbooks.

Furthermore, the survey revealed a deep-seated skepticism about the business practices of the prediction market platforms themselves.

• A significant majority, 70 percent of Americans, said they believe these platforms are “exploiting loopholes to act as unlicensed sportsbooks.”

This finding suggests that the public sees these platforms not as innovators in finance, but as a backdoor entry into the sports betting market that bypasses the established state-by-state regulatory framework.

A Call to Action from the Gaming Industry

The findings have prompted a direct call to action from the AGA’s leadership, which is now using the data to lobby for federal intervention.

“This research has made it clear: Americans know a sports bet when they see one—and they expect prediction markets offering sports event contracts to be held to the same rules and consumer safeguards as every other state-regulated sportsbook,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller.

“This underscores the need for the CFTC to enforce and uphold its own regulations that prohibit gaming contracts, and for Congress to use its oversight power to ensure prediction markets are not used as a backdoor for gaming,” he added.