Posted on: March 6, 2026, 05:15h.
Last updated on: March 6, 2026, 05:15h.
- New Mexico congressman wants to amend Farm Bill to prohibit prediction market operators from offering sports event contracts
- He says prediction markets are evading state and tribal laws
- The amendment is supported by tribal gaming entities
Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) wants to leverage the Farm Bill to potentially prohibit prediction market operators from offering derivatives that mirror traditional sports wagers.
It may sound like a novel approach, but Vasquez may be onto something because the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is prediction markets’ federal regulator, regulates trading of agriculture derivatives. In fact, some critics of the commission and yes/no exchanges argue that is the CFTC’s primary function.
As for the Vasquez amendment, the House Agriculture Committee prevented a vote on it, but the congressman remains undaunted.
Let’s be honest—allowing companies to bypass state and Tribal gambling rules by calling bets on sports ‘event contacts’ or ‘prediction markets’ is a direct violation of Tribal sovereignty, and it’s stealing revenue from the New Mexico Tribes who are playing by the rules,” he said in a statement.
New Mexico doesn’t allow online sports betting, but prediction markets have seized on their federally regulated status and are offering sports event contracts in scores of states that don’t permit traditional sports wagering. Vasquez says he procured a commitment from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) that the amendment will be discussed in the future.
Vasquez Amendment Draws Praise Tribal Casino Groups
While the Vasquez amendment is stymied for now, there may be momentum for it in the future, particularly as prediction markets scrutiny becomes an increasingly bipartisan issue.
What is clear is that tribal casino operators, which have been long-standing, vocal critics of prediction markets, support the Vasquez amendment. Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman David Bean and James Siva, the chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), back the Vasquez amendment.
Siva, who represents a consortium of tribal gaming interests in the most populous state, notes Congress and the Supreme Court have long recognized that regulation of gaming, including sports wagering, is determined by the states.
“Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have long recognized this principle,” he said in a statement. “Yet today, so-called prediction markets are trying to create gaps in federal law and regulation so they can offer nationwide sports betting without licensing, oversight, or consumer protections, including in states like California where sports betting is expressly prohibited and overwhelmingly rejected by the voters. Representative Vasquez’s amendment would have reinforced state authority, defended tribal sovereignty, and protected consumers.”
Prediction Markets Making for Strange Bedfellows
Interestingly, prediction markets are proving to be a unifying point for members of the two major parties. That much was seen earlier today when Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) and Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) introduced the Event Contract Enforcement Act.
Their proposal isn’t seeking the elimination of the event contracts industry, but it seeks to bar sports derivatives as well as “the listing of contracts for sale related to terrorism, assassination, war.”
Their bill and news of the Vasquez amendment emerged a day after a group Democrat senators pitched legislation aimed at reining insider trading on prediction markets — a bill stoked by evidence of such trades in the wake of US involvement in Iran and Venezuela.
