Polymarket feels heat as Louisiana lawmakers up the ante
Louisiana lawmakers have got prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi in the gun, following a flurry of fresh regulatory heat.
The Bayou State’s Gaming Control Board has now declared that sports-related prediction contracts are, in fact, sports betting under state law, warning local betting sites that any involvement in these markets could jeopardise their licences.
Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chair Christopher Hebert’s blunt advisory made clear that only entities with a valid Louisiana sports wagering licence can offer event-style markets, and that such products are not recognised as Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulated commodities — a direct challenge to Kalshi’s central legal defence.
“It is the Board’s position that such activities constitute sports wagering under Louisiana law and are not being conducted in compliance with Louisiana Gaming Control law or under a valid Louisiana issued license or permit,” the letter said.
“The Board issues this advisory to make it clear that any direct or indirect involvement in the operation, offering, or facilitation of sporting event contracts may affect a Regulated Party’s suitability for licensure or permitting in Louisiana.”
The move adds pressure as prediction markets balloon in popularity and sportsbooks like Fanatics, DraftKings and FanDuel eye their own launches.
More than 20 lawsuits are now active nationwide, with regulators and tribal groups arguing these markets fall squarely within gambling law.
Canadian lawmakers have also acted quickly to shut down independent prediction markets with Ontario, British Columbia and Québec leading the way. The rest of Canada cannot also legally access prediction markets.
With several provinces, including Alberta, in the process of rolling out their own sports betting sites and legalised wagering, it will be interesting to see where predictions markets land in the wash-up.
Globally, with billion-dollar valuations and a growing mainstream profile, prediction-market operators are heading into a decisive legal showdown over what, exactly, they are allowed to be.
