Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the growing legal fight over prediction markets is likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, as states challenge federal authority over sports-related event contracts.
Christie, now a strategic adviser to the American Gaming Association (AGA), said the policy allowing prediction markets to offer sports contracts under federal oversight is harming states that regulate sports betting.
“I think it’s going to go to the Supreme Court,” Christie told CNBC, adding that Congress could resolve the dispute first through legislation such as the CLARITY Act.
The dispute centers on whether sports event contracts offered by federally regulated prediction-market exchanges are derivatives subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), or sports wagers that must comply with state gambling laws.
“What I know is the policy is wrong. It’s injurious to the states,” Christie said. “You’ve got 1.3 billion in tax revenue to states that have already been siphoned off by the predictive market companies, and they refuse to allow themselves to be regulated.”
Christie also criticized the accessibility of sports prediction contracts to younger customers, saying some people who cannot legally wager at traditional sportsbooks can use prediction markets.
“They’re marketing to college students,” Christie said. “They’re marketing to 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds who, in the sports gaming business, are not allowed to bet; they are allowed to bet on the predictive market.”
The CFTC has taken the opposite position, arguing that federal law gives it exclusive authority over U.S. commodity derivatives markets, including event contracts offered by prediction markets.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has accused states of disregarding federal law by seeking to apply their gambling regulations to federally registered markets.
“Chris Christie is leading a campaign to ban American Prediction Markets in states across the country. We’re simply not going to allow that to happen,” Selig wrote in response to Christie.
Christie has also escalated his criticism of Selig, accusing the CFTC chairman of misleading President Donald Trump about the agency’s legal battles with states.
“He (Selig) stood in front of the president the other day and lied,” Christie said. “He lied to his boss, and this is a guy who’s leading a losing effort for the president.”
Christie pointed to opposition from 44 state attorneys general, from both parties, as evidence of broad resistance to the federal approach.
“Are 44 of them [attorneys general] wrong, rogue? Republicans and Democrats,” Christie said.
The two sides also dispute the industry’s record in court. Christie claimed states have won 85% of cases involving prediction markets, while Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s Head of Enforcement, said the legal split is closer to 50-50.
“The legal split is much closer to 50-50,” DeNault said, while also rejecting Christie’s criticism of enforcement. “Good policy and legal debates turn on facts, not fiction. But Governor Christie’s claims aren’t based on facts.”
Kalshi has said it launched more than 150 insider-trading investigations in the first quarter of 2026, blocked more than 100 attempted insider trades and referred at least 20 cases to law enforcement.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has backed the CFTC’s position, saying it is “critically important” that the agency’s exclusive authority over prediction markets be maintained.
The clash leaves the courts to determine whether sports event contracts are federally regulated financial derivatives or gambling products subject to state licensing, consumer-protection and age restrictions. Christie believes the Supreme Court will ultimately have to settle the issue if Congress does not intervene.