The Sports Betting Alliance is staying out of the fight over prediction markets. The trade group says it has no formal position, while some of its members have launched prediction-market products and others have not. Its public mission remains state-regulated sports betting and iGaming.
In an interview, SBA president Joe Maloney said there is “no formal position” and “certainly there’s no advocacy on prediction markets with the SBA.” He said the alliance is leaving individual companies to decide their own business strategies and has not added prediction markets to its legislative agenda.
Maloney described prediction markets as “the most dynamic topic in the gambling world right now and in the state legislatures.” He said the issue is attracting scrutiny from state lawmakers and regulators as courts weigh whether federally regulated event contracts can keep offering sports-based markets nationwide.
He also said the rapid rise of prediction markets has changed the way legislators talk about gambling policy. In non-legalized jurisdictions, he said, lawmakers are seeing advertising and watching their own residents trade sports event contracts, which is prompting questions.
The alliance’s message is that it is focused elsewhere. Maloney said the SBA is in the business of strengthening the state-regulated market where it exists and expanding that opportunity across the country. He said members are not seeing meaningful disruption from prediction markets and are “not seeing cannibalization at this time.”
That neutrality sits alongside a broader industry dispute over how sports-related event contracts should be regulated. The article says state gaming regulators have raised questions about consumer protections, licensing, taxation and responsible-gambling standards, while supporters of state regulation argue that traditional sportsbooks carry obligations that may put them at a disadvantage if similar products can be offered under different rules or under full federal oversight.
A March presentation the alliance gave to Montana lawmakers helps explain its scale and focus. It described the SBA as a coalition of licensed sports betting operators advocating for safe, well-regulated online sports wagering and online gaming markets in the United States.
The presentation said SBA members make up 85%+ of the U.S. legal sports betting market and employ more than 200 dedicated responsible-gaming staff. It also said online sports wagering is legal in 30 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
That presentation said more than $157 billion was legally wagered nationally in fiscal 2025, up from $4.6 billion in 2018, and that total state tax revenue to date tops $9.6 billion. The alliance also said its members invest tens of millions in responsible-gaming tools and support state-mandated problem-gambling funding requirements.
For now, Maloney said he does not see prediction market companies aligning with the alliance’s goals, calling the idea of future membership “a wild hypothetical.”
