Prediction markets surge in US as public health advocates call for support to combat gambling

America's Justin Gaethje celebrates after defeating Georgia's Ilia Topuria during the UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen America's Justin Gaethje celebrates after defeating Georgia's Ilia Topuria during the UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Prediction markets surge in US as public health advocates call for support to combat gambling Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket operating in areas with limited resources for people with gambling problems Public health resources across the US are failing to keep pace with the rapid growth of online gambling, problem health advocates warned, after Donald Trump endorsed the controversial nationwide surge of prediction markets. Prediction market platforms, where users can wager on everything from Tony Award winners to World Cup goals, have pushed betting even further into American life. Leading brands like Kalshi marketed aggressively around the NBA finals. And Polymarket’s logo was plastered across the cage hosting the UFC fights at the White House last Sunday. The contested push of such platforms across the US, including in states that have long prohibited gambling, mean they are now operating – and heavily advertising their services – in markets with limited public resources for those who develop problems with gambling. “When you expand access and availability and normalization of it, you’re going to have more participation,” said Timothy Fong, an addiction psychiatrist and gambling researcher at UCLA. “When you have more participation and engagement in risky products, you’re going to have more problems, you’re going to have more side effects.” ‘You can bet on it’: Utah lawmakers form united front in push to ban prediction markets Read more Since the US Supreme Court struck down a longstanding federal ban on sports betting in 2018, the digital gambling industry has boomed. Sports betting now legal in 39 states and Washington DC. And more recently, prediction market platforms have rapidly risen in prominence. Companies like Polymarket and Kalshi argue they are not gambling operators, which are typically regulated – and require approval to operate – on a state-by-state basis. Instead, they argue they offer “event derivatives”, overseen at a federal level by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). That distinction has so far allowed prediction markets to operate across much of the country, including in states like Utah and Hawaii, where gambling has long been illegal. More than a dozen lawsuits filed in several states are challenging that interpretation, with regulators and lawmakers arguing the platforms should fall under state gambling laws. Trump’s administration has been sympathetic to the industry’s argument. And the US president weighed in himself last last month, claiming it to be “critically important” that the CFTC maintain “excl