Unite Here urges Congress to ban prediction market sports contracts

Labor union Unite Here called on Congress to ban prediction markets from offering sports betting and casino-style event contracts, arguing that such products threaten jobs in the regulated gaming industry and undermine Tribal sovereignty and state gambling laws.

“Prediction markets are putting good, union jobs in the gaming industry at risk. Over 100,000 Unite Here members work in Tribal and commercial casinos,” Unite Here President Gwen Mills said in a statement. “Their livelihoods are now threatened by prediction markets conducting illegal sports betting in violation of Tribal sovereignty and state laws across the country.”

The union’s appeal comes as lawmakers consider the CLARITY Act, legislation focused on cryptocurrency market structure. While the bill does not directly address prediction markets, critics have argued that greater legal clarity for decentralized finance platforms could indirectly benefit operators of prediction market exchanges.

With the CLARITY Act gaining momentum, Unite Here urged Congress to take action against prediction markets. “Congress must take immediate action to ban prediction markets from conducting sports betting and casino-style games,” Mills said.

The union also backed the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act (S. 4160), a bill sponsored by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff, Catherine Cortez Masto and John Curtis. According to Unite Here, the legislation would help reaffirm congressional intent that gambling remains subject to Tribal and state oversight.

“As the Senate considers cryptocurrency market structure legislation, this is an urgent moment to reaffirm congressional intent that gambling is governed by Tribal and state authorities,” Mills said.

Unite Here argued that regulated Tribal and commercial gaming operators have invested heavily in brick-and-mortar casinos and sportsbooks, creating jobs and economic benefits for local communities.

The union said casino workers have secured higher wages, healthcare benefits and retirement security through collective bargaining agreements, and warned that growth in prediction markets could undermine those gains.

“Good casino jobs allow our members to buy their first homes, send their kids to college, and quit second jobs to spend more time with their families,” Mills said. “We will not allow prediction markets to attack our jobs and turn back our progress.”

Unite Here’s position follows concerns raised by the American Gaming Association. Two weeks ago, AGA President Bill Miller told a Senate subcommittee that prediction market operators, including Kalshi and Polymarket, may be circumventing state gambling regulations by offering sports event contracts.

Prediction market companies have argued that their products fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are therefore regulated at the federal level rather than by state gaming authorities.