Ryan Butler

iCasino, sports betting and gaming industry corporate, legislative and financial news (plus occasional sports rants) for @covers. NoVa native, @UF Grad

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

ICYMI: A hearing designed around sports betting instead was more about prediction markets. Our @Covers story:

https://t.co/zoe1MbCLr7

[Nick Devor @nickdevor_]

NEW: Rep @JamesComer announces House Oversight Committee probe into Kalshi and Polymarket over insider trading, CNBC is reporting

[Brad Allen @BradAllenNFL]

Around 2/3rds of Kalshi activity comes from non-OSB states per Morgan Stanley

[David Payne Purdum @DavidPurdum]

I'll take a $20 three-leg Combinatoric Athletic Outcome Contract please.

[Amanda Fischer @amandalfischer]

I sat thru probably hundreds (thousands?) of hours of House hearings while McHenry was a member. Members debated Dodd-Frank, swaps regulation and all manner of financial topics. Never once did McHenry or any other member debate sports gambling oversight at the CFTC

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

That includes Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada who, not surprisingly, is not a fan of prediction markets and has made that clear during her questioning

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Republicans have tended to be more supportive of prediction markets than Democrats, but GOP Sens during today's hearing have been, at least, skeptical; Democrats, not surprisingly, have been highly critical of PMs during questioning and supportive of regulated gaming

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Republicans have tended to be more supportive of prediction markets than Democrats, but GOP Sens during today's hearing have been, at least, skeptical; Democrats, not surprisingly, have been highly critical of PMs during questioning and supportive of regulated gaming

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Patrick McHenry, a former House Rep, of The Coalition for Prediction Markets defended two major questions about PM legality:

- Congress intended a broad definition of "swaps", one that could encompass sports
- Sports trades, including individual games, have a significant economic impact; a game could impact t-shirt sales, local economies depending on outcome, McHenry said

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Brian Schatz have both focused their sports betting hearing questions on "micro" bets, underscoring the rising bipartisan concern about individual player prop wagers

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Sen. John Curtis of Utah, one of the Republican states that have been most opposed to prediction markets, presses Prediction Market representative Patrick McHenry to explain why PMs aren't gambling

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

When pressed on this claim by Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, Coalition for Prediction Markets' Advisor Patrick McHenry (a former Republican House Rep.) says he is unaware of this situation

[Jessica Welman @jesswelman]

Patrick McHenry said his members don't advertise to minors, but Kalshi recruited a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD to promote its platform https://t.co/ELlHC9roB3

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

To begin her questioning during a Senate hearing, Sen. Marsha Blackburn pushes representatives from both the regulated gaming industry and prediction markets on why they advertise on social media, asking how they can prevent targeting underage gambling/trading

[Geoff Zochodne @GeoffZochodne]

Another angle to Minnesota trying to ban prediction markets via legislation is that it's a knock on the argument that PMs may catalyze OSB/iGaming legalization.

MN has neither, and lawmakers had both a PM ban and OSB legalization bill before them. They chose only the former.

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

The CFTC has filed lawsuits defending prediction markets in:

- Arizona
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- New York
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts*
- US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals*
- US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals*

*Amicus briefs

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

The CFTC has sued to block a Minnesota bill signed into law Monday that would make operating a prediction market a criminal felony, the organization announced today; The CFTC is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the law from going into effect on August 1, 2026.

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

ICYMI: Minnesota Tim Walz has signed the public safety bill that includes provisions banning prediction markets in the state, the first legislative act to explicitly ban these platforms; the bill, scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, is set to be challenged by PMs and/or the CFTC

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

On a random Monday in May:

- NHL Overtime Game 7
- NBA Conference Finals Double Overtime
- A pitcher goes into the 9th with the lead and a shot at a No Hitter

Sports are the best.

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Spurs - Thunder heads to double overtime and the game still hasn't (yet) hit the Over.

[Ryan Butler @ButlerBets]

Kalshi accepts trades from US passengers on commercial domestic flights, as I can confirm from personal experience.