U.S. Senate Subcommittee holds hearing on prediction markets, sports betting

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Dr. Harry Levant, the Public Health Advocacy Institute’s (PHAI) Director of Gambling Policy, spoke during a recent hearing about the rapid expansion of sports betting across the United States and highlighted growing concerns about prediction markets that are offering the same type of product to Americans.

Prediction markets "meet the very definition of gambling"

PHAI’s Director of Gambling Policy appeared as a witness before the United States Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology and Data Privacy. In addition to Dr. Levant, other witnesses who testified included Mary Beth Thomas, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council's Executive Director, the American Gaming Association's CEO and President, Bill Miller, as well as The Coalition for Prediction Markets’ Senior Advisor, Hon. Patrick McHenry. The hearing was convened by the U.S. Senator and Chair of the Senate Subcommittee, Marsha Blackburn. Titled No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America, the discussion invited experts from the betting industry and gaming industry, who spoke about the ongoing expansion of legal betting across the country. During the hearing, Dr. Levant urged Congress to recognize prediction markets as a form of gambling, encouraging them to develop and implement a federal-level framework for the fast-growing sports betting industry. He argued that prediction markets constitute gambling, explaining that such platforms meet the very definition of gambling. Moreover, Dr. Levant said: To the end user, the American public, there’s absolutely no difference. The prediction markets themselves admit it is gambling.

Betting expansion continues, raising further concerns

Besides addressing the similarity of prediction markets to gambling, Dr. Levant warned about the growing number of partnerships between sports leagues, data providers and gambling platforms. This symbiosis, he argued, is already reshaping the way sports fans across America are viewing professional and collegiate sports. The integrity issue is not just whether fans can trust the outcome of a game, PHAI’s Director of Gambling Policy said. The sports leagues have sold their integrity to the gambling industry. The NCAA, the owners, and the players have partnered for an enormous financial gain to sell their real-time data to the gambling industry to create micro-bets, parlays, and prop-bets, Dr. Levant warned. According to him, prop bets, parlays and micro-bets are the type of gambling activities that impact not only gamblers but their families too, resulting in harm and difficulties.