Nevada Gaming Control Board warns licensees: ‘Sports event contracts are wagers’
The Nevada gaming regulator has issued a notice to all its licensees confirming its dim view of sports and other events contracts and warning of potential disciplinary action.
Key Points
- Prediction contracts for sports and other selected events will be considered wagers by the regulator
- The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) confirms that this will be its view whether the contracts are listed on an exchange regulated by the CFTC or not
- It reminds licensees that sports and events contracts may be conducted in Nevada only if the operator possesses a nonrestricted gaming license with sports pool approval
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has made its position on prediction markets clear in a notice to all licensees addressed from Chairman, Mike Dreitzer.
In accordance with its duties, the regulator has confirmed that it will consider sports event contracts as wagers.
The notice also references specific ‘other events’ that would constitute wagering in its opinion.
These include: The World Series of Poker, the Oscars, Esports and political elections – it is unclear how exhaustive this list is or what criteria are going to be used to determine which events fall into this definition.
The NGCB wrote: “Offerings for Sports and Other Events Contracts may be conducted in Nevada only if the offering entity possesses a nonrestricted gaming license with sports pool approval in Nevada and meets the other requirements for sports wagering including, without limitation, wagering accounts and sports book systems.”
This could potentially leave the door open to operators who do fulfil these requirements to develop a predictions market-esque product that is compliant.
However, if that product was then used to exploit state markets in which sports betting is not currently legal – arguably prediction markets’ most lucrative USP – the NGCB is clear that it would consider this a breach under the Gaming Control Act.
Partnering with companies offering unlicensed ‘Sports and Other Event Contracts’ within Nevada will also seemingly be looked upon unfavorably when the board is considering whether to renew that company’s operator license.
Good to know: Sports betting has been driving most of the growth in Nevada of late, with results for August showing $1.2bn in overall revenue
The notice concludes its warning with this: “The Board reminds licensees to be mindful of their obligations to maintain suitability and comply with all applicable laws in all jurisdictions where they operate.”
Nevada was one of the states that issued Kalshi with a cease and desist – however the District Court later approved a preliminary injunction request, preventing the NGCB from exercising its authority over the predictions market operator.
That case is still being litigated, but the board has remained unequivocal in its stance – in a hearing for a similar case with Crypto.com, NGCB member George Assad made the comment: “I would like to inform all those participants like Kalshi and Crypto.com, Polymarket etc, that the gig is up.”
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