All posts tagged: DraftKings Inc

John Arnold commits .6 million to study online sports betting risk

John Arnold commits $2.6 million to study online sports betting risk

Published by Sam Flores

John Arnold, founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, speaks during a session at CERAWeek by S&P Global at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, March 20, 2024. Yi-Chin Lee | Houston Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images Billionaire philanthropist John Arnold says online sports betting has changed immeasurably since it became legal in the U.S. in 2018, thanks to the rise of online prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket and mobile apps like DraftKings and FanDuel. To better understand the potential risks, he’s awarding $2.6 million to researchers studying the evolving world of gambling on sports. The grants, which have not been previously reported, will go to researchers at universities and think tanks to look at the effect of gambling on financial well-being, household formation, mental health and consumer behavior. Arnold, who co-founded Arnold Ventures with his wife, Laura, told CNBC he wants lawmakers and regulators to wake up to the new reality of the booming sports betting market. “Being able to bet over the phone has dramatically increased access and lowered friction,” …

CFTC must crack down on offshore prediction market war bets

CFTC must crack down on offshore prediction market war bets

Published by Sam Flores

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., arrives for the House Democrats’ caucus meeting in the Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018. Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images A group of House Democrats pressed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a letter sent late Monday on why the agency has not cracked down on bets placed on war and other government actions via offshore prediction markets. The letter to CFTC Chair Michael Selig, obtained first by CNBC, questions the agency’s role in regulating prediction markets, which have surged in popularity of late and drawn the ire of a growing number of lawmakers. “Recent high-profile instances of alleged insider trading on prediction market platforms relating to U.S. government actions — including the military’s intervention in Venezuela and our recent attack on Iran —have fueled concern that the CFTC does not have adequate control over these fast-growing markets,” wrote the group, led by Reps. Seth Moulton and Jim McGovern, both Massachusetts Democrats. Read more CNBC politics coverage Well-timed bets on the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro …

No prediction market bets on sports, election, war under new bill

No prediction market bets on sports, election, war under new bill

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) speaks at a news conference on his marathon overnight speech on the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images A group of congressional Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation that would ban prediction market bets on elections, government actions, war and sports, as scrutiny on the popular platforms intensifies. Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., are leading the measure, which comes after a series of well-timed bets placed on world events — including the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the war in Iran — raised questions about prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. “When anyone can use prediction markets to make a well-timed bet on Congress passing a bill, government decisions, or a military strike, it’s ripe for corruption and erodes public trust,” Merkley said in a statement. “The STOP Corrupt Bets Act restores the original intent of prediction markets and prevents these markets from further eroding our democratic institutions and turning them …

Kalshi, Polymarket insider trading rules not enough: Sens. Schiff, Curtis

Kalshi, Polymarket insider trading rules not enough: Sens. Schiff, Curtis

Published by Sam Flores

A pair of bipartisan senators on Wednesday said they won’t drop their push to ban sports prediction market contracts, despite Kalshi and Polymarket announcing new insider trading restrictions on their platforms. “It’s got to be more than an aspirational statement by these companies,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about those platforms’ self-imposed new rules. Kalshi on Monday said it would preemptively block politicians, athletes and “other relevant people” from betting on their own campaigns or sporting events. The same day, Polymarket announced it would impose its own guardrails to address insider trading and market manipulation. The new restrictions came as Schiff and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, introduced legislation that would give states, rather than federal regulators, control over sports betting and casino-style games. The bill would prohibit Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered entities from listing any such prediction contract. In a joint CNBC interview Wednesday morning, the senators said the companies’ efforts to police themselves are insufficient. “I don’t think it’s enough,” Schiff said. “It’s one thing to say, ‘This is our policy.’ It’s …

Trump vows order on college sports NIL fix

Trump vows order on college sports NIL fix

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a round table on collegiate sports in the White House in Washington, D.C., March 6, 2026. Nathan Howard | Reuters President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to issue an executive order to “fix” what he called a “mess” in college sports created by NIL payments to football, basketball and other players and a legal settlement that allowed universities to directly pay their athletes. Trump said he fully expected such an order would be challenged in the courts, but added that he hoped there would be a judge who would support the order’s goal. “We’ll be sued, and we’ll go before the courts, and here we go again,” he said. Trump’s comments about the name, image and likeness payments system, the House v. NCAA legal case settlement, and other issues came at the Saving College Sports Roundtable at the White House. Attendees included NCAA President Charlie Baker, former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. No student-athletes were invited to the event. …

Merkley bill would ban government officials from prediction markets

Merkley bill would ban government officials from prediction markets

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore,) speaks during a press conference addressing a new policy that demands recipients of foreign military aid to follow international humanitarian law at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2024. Nathan Howard | Reuters Payouts to unnamed bettors after the ouster of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the U.S. attack on Iran put prediction markets in the spotlight. Now, lawmakers are trying to block elected officials from getting rich off them. A previously unreported bill led by Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., being introduced on Thursday would ban the president, vice president and members of Congress from trading event contracts — which allow users to wager on the outcome of specific events. It would also limit prediction market activity for senior executive branch officials and impose fines starting at $10,000 for violators. “Members receive all sorts of tips and advice,” Merkley said in an interview. “The actual demonstration of insider trading is too difficult to be sufficient to address the problem. The problem becomes both …

Prediction market gambling needs state regulation, Mulvaney says

Prediction market gambling needs state regulation, Mulvaney says

Published by Sam Flores

Buying contracts on prediction markets is just another word for “gambling,” says former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who is leading a coalition that wants state authorities, not a federal commodities agency, to regulate that growing industry. “The simple answer is that it’s gambling. It just is,” Mulvaney told CNBC’s Contessa Brewer, saying the burgeoning industry needs extra scrutiny following betting activity ahead of the Iran war. “I buy a prediction contract, whatever that is, on the Lakers winning the basketball game. If you ask any ordinary human being if that’s sports gambling, it absolutely is, they would think that it is,” said the former South Carolina Republican congressman. Mulvaney, whose new coalition is called Gambling Is Not Investing, argued that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission is “set up to regulate markets,” but it “is not set up to protect consumers,” such as the ones buying contracts on prediction markets, which include Polymarket and Kalshi. The CTFC has argued that it should be the regulator of prediction markets, not state agencies. “Look, …

Iran war prediction market bets draw heat: ‘Insane this is legal’

Iran war prediction market bets draw heat: ‘Insane this is legal’

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Chris Murphy, D–Conn., speaks next to his guest Fereshteh Ganjavi, an Afghan refugee and founder of Elena’s Light, during the “People’s State of the Union” event ahead President Trump’s State of the Union address in Washington, Feb. 24, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters Prediction markets are facing renewed scrutiny from federal lawmakers after wagers about the fate of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the Saturday bombardment of Iran. “It’s insane this is legal,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a post to X, referring to another post highlighting people who had made money on the invasion. “People around Trump are profiting off war and death. I’m introducing legislation ASAP to ban this.” CNBC has reached out to Murphy’s office for more details on his proposal. It comes as a new trade group led by President Donald Trump’s former acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Gambling Is Not Investing, launched to push tighter guardrails on prediction markets. Other lawmakers, too, have expressed concern about prediction markets after the invasion. Rep. Mike …

Senators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidance

Senators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidance

Published by Sam Flores

Michael Selig, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission speaks during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images Six Democratic senators told the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a previously unreported letter that they have strong concerns about prediction market contracts “that incentivize physical injury or death,” saying the contracts “present dangerous national security risks.” The senators urged CFTC Chairman Michael Selig in the letter sent Monday to “clearly reiterate that the CFTC will categorically prohibit any contract that resolves upon or closely correlates to an individual’s death.” The letter, led by Sen. Adam Schiff of California, notes that under federal commodity regulations, the CFTC already “categorically prohibits” contracts that involve or reference terrorism, assassination, war or similar actions. The letter was sent as prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi have become increasingly popular and as questions have been raised about how those markets should be regulated, whether they are contributing to a rise …