Will the current debate over prediction markets and their place as unlicensed sportsbooks end up with a Federal entry into the US gaming market? That’s a prediction that MGM Resorts International CEO and president William J. Hornbuckle IV made at the the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City last week.
Hornbuckle was one of several prominent gaming executives who spoke on the prediction market situation and its position as an existential threat to regulated sportsbooks. The collective opinion of the guests at the keynote panel was twofold. On the one hand, they generally agreed that regulating prediction markets is the jurisdiction of the states and should be framed as a states rights issue. On the other hand, they generally agreed that if the states and the industry can’t get a handle on prediction markets soon, the issue will likely become an entry point for a federal takeover of gaming regulations.
“It has always been, it needs to be and continues to be a states’ rights issue,” Hornbuckle said in an interview with iGamingBusiness after the panel.
Bill Miller, the President of the influential American Gaming Associaton (AGA) looked at the issue through the lens of how it impacts efforts to fight problem gambling. After all, prediction markets aren’t required to support efforts to curb problem gambling the same way regulated sportsbooks and casinos are. “For those of us who are in charge of ensuring that the public believes we are acting in a responsible manner, and we are actually in touch with the elements of responsible gaming, it’s hard for me to see this as anything other than a threat,” he told the panel.
What’s clear to gaming industry observers is that the prediction market issue isn’t going away anytime soon. What’s less clear is whether or not prediction market operators will be allowed to continue to operate as unlicensed sportsbooks.