March Madness is about to get a lot tamer for avid sports fans across the country, and that’s not a good thing.

Sens. John Curtis (R-UT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently introduced a bill that would directly prohibit prediction markets from offering wagers on athletic events. As prediction markets are quickly becoming a mainstream phenomenon, this will have a huge negative impact on sports fans and the larger industry alike.

Unlike traditional sports gambling, prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi offer derivative products with peer-to-peer trading on event probability. Sports bets, meanwhile, are wagers placed against a bookmaker with fixed odds. For users, this means unique knowledge and familiarity with the game can improve their chances of winning — an advantage that lobbyists and regulators have been quick to challenge.

MARCH MADNESS COLLIDES WITH PREDICTION MARKET CHAOS

This critical distinction has already led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman to publish a statement asserting the agency’s authority over these unique markets. The CFTC, with the help of Congress, will likely continue to refine the definitions around prediction markets and write rules for how........

© Washington Examiner