Minnesota First to Ban Sports Event Contracts, CFTC Sues

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed SF 4760 into law, which includes language banning certain prediction markets in the state
• SF 4760, on omnibus public safety package, was amended to include language banning certain prediction markets from Sen. John Marty’s (DFL-40) bill, SF 4511
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has already filed a lawsuit against the state.

Minnesota is officially the first state to pass legislation to ban certain prediction markets within its boundaries, but the approved bill is already facing legal challenges.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed  SF 4760 into law, an omnibus public safety package that includes language to prohibit prediction market contracts based on sports, politics, war, weather, and other markets.

Following his signature, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against the legislation, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop it from going into effect on Aug. 1, 2026.

Sports Event Contracts, Plus Others, to Be Banned

SF 4760 included language from Sen. John Marty’s (DFL-40) bill, SF 4511. The Minnesota Senate approved Marty’s bill by a 56-10 vote on April 30. However, the standalone bill gained little traction in the House.

Language from Marty’s legislation banning certain prediction markets in Minnesota was added to SF 4760, which had already passed both legislative chambers, and was scheduled for a conference committee.

Despite several proposed amendments, Marty’s prediction market prohibition language survived the final passage of the bill. The legislation was sent back to the Senate and the House for final approval of the bill’s amendments.

The House passed the conference committee report last week by a 100-32 vote, just hours after the Senate also approved the amendments by a 57-9 vote.

The legislation prohibits prediction market contracts centered around the following types of markets:

• Whether a person will make a particular statement
• An athletic event or game of skill
• Any game played with cards, dice, equipment, or any mechanical or electronic device or machine
• War, state or national emergencies, natural or human-made disasters, mass shooting, acts of terrorism, or public health crises
• Federal, state, or local elections
• Legal actions, including but not limited to a civil or criminal suit, grand jury action, jury trial, settlement, plea, or conviction
• Weather
• Death, assassination, or attempted killings
• Events in popular culture, including but not limited to awards and the date a piece of entertainment will be released

However, it remains to be seen if the bill will even have the chance to go into effect in Minnesota, as it already faces a legal challenge from the CFTC.

Legal Challenges Already Happening

Less than 24-hours after Walz signed the bill into law, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig announced the commission filed a lawsuit against the state.

“This Minnesota law turns lawful operators and participants in prediction markets into felons overnight,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in the announcement. “Minnesota farmers have relied on critical hedging products on weather and crop-related events for decades to mitigate their risks. Governor Walz chose to put special interests first and American farmers and innovators last.”

The CFTC filed its lawsuit in Minnesota U.S. District Court against Gov. Walz and several high ranking Minnesota officials, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, requesting an immediate preliminary injunction to keep the law from going into effect in August.

“The injury to the United States, moreover, is irreparable and requires immediate injunctive relief. Constitutional violations, including Supremacy Clause violations, are always irreparable. Furthermore, if Minnesota is permitted to enforce its law, the harm to the United States’s sovereign interests and regulatory jurisdiction could not be undone after final judgment. Preliminary injunctive relief is required to preserve the status quo during the pendency of the case,” CFTC counsel noted in its lawsuit.