IGA chairman asks Congress to protect tribal sovereignty from prediction markets

Congress should act on three separate fronts to keep sports wagering decisions in the hands of tribal and state governments, Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman David Z. Bean told the House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets during a hearing this week.

Bean called for lawmakers to advance H.R. 7840, the Event Contract Enforcement Act, which would reaffirm existing federal law prohibiting sports gambling conducted through prediction markets.

He also asked that the CLARITY Act be written to explicitly protect the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribal sovereignty, and state gaming statutes by barring sports and casino-style wagering from prediction market platforms.

His third request targeted a pending Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposal that would strip away long-standing restrictions on gaming-related event contracts, opening the door to further growth in federally regulated online gambling.

Testimony comes amid scrutiny of prediction markets

The subcommittee hearing, titled “Examining Customer Protections and Market Integrity in Sports Event Prediction Markets,” gave Bean a platform to argue that CFTC-regulated prediction markets are functioning as unregulated sportsbooks.

Speaking for IGA and its member tribes nationwide, he told lawmakers that jurisdiction over sports wagering rests with tribal nations and states rather than federal financial regulators.

“Prediction markets have not invented a new financial product,” said Bean. “They are offering the same sports wagers found in traditional sportsbooks while avoiding the consumer protections, regulatory oversight, responsible gaming requirements, and local accountability that tribal and state governments require. No one voted for this expansion of gambling, and Congress never authorized it.“

Bean told the subcommittee that tribal governments put hundreds of millions of dollars into gaming regulation each year and staff thousands of regulators whose job is to protect the integrity of gaming operations and guard consumers.

That spending covers responsible gaming programs, strict age verification, fraud prevention, licensing, oversight, and cooperative work with federal and state agencies. Prediction market operators, he said, avoid all of these obligations while federal regulators decline to intervene.

Sovereignty as the core issue

Gaming’s purpose extends well past casino floors, according to Bean, who said the industry was built to give tribal governments sustainable funding for core services.

“Indian gaming is not simply about casinos,” Bean told the Subcommittee. “It is the economic foundation that allows tribal governments to provide essential services for their citizens and create opportunity in rural America. Every dollar generated through Indian gaming is reinvested back into our communities.”

Those services, he noted, include healthcare, education, housing, public safety, and infrastructure and economic development programs across tribal communities.

For that reason, Bean told lawmakers that the stakes go beyond gambling policy alone.

“The issue before Congress today is much larger than sports betting,” said Chairman Bean. “This is about protecting tribal sovereignty, preserving the integrity of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, defending rural economies, and ensuring that consumers, especially young people, are protected through the responsible regulatory systems that tribes and states have spent decades building.”

He closed his testimony with a direct appeal to the committee.

“The debate over sports wagering has always belonged to tribal governments and states,” Bean said. “Congress created the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to recognize tribal authority and establish a proven regulatory framework built on integrity, accountability, and local decision-making. We respectfully ask Congress to reaffirm that framework, protect consumers, and preserve the sovereign rights of tribal nations for generations to come.”

Bean’s testimony builds on a coordinated campaign IGA has run alongside tribal governments, state regulators, national organizations, and members of Congress from both parties against the expansion of prediction market sports betting.

The coalition argues that these platforms threaten tribal sovereignty, cut into government revenues, weaken consumer protections, and undermine the framework established under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.