Utah governor escalates fight over prediction market regulation with CFTC chair
Salt Lake City is quickly becoming a focal point in the growing clash over who controls prediction markets, and Gov. Spencer Cox is making clear he intends to push back hard against Washington.
On Tuesday (February 17), Cox publicly rebuked Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig, accusing the federal regulator of stretching its authority by treating sports-style event contracts like financial derivatives. The dispute surrounds online platforms that allow users to trade contracts tied to real-world outcomes, including sports results.
In a pointed post on X responding to Selig, Cox mocked the idea that the federal commodities regulator can treat sports outcome contracts like traditional derivatives: “Mike, I appreciate you attempting this with a straight face, but I don’t remember the CFTC having authority over the ‘derivative market’ of LeBron James rebounds.” He then condemned the products in sweeping terms: “These prediction markets you are breathlessly defending are gambling—pure and simple. They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men. They have no place in Utah.”
Cox closed his remarks with a direct warning that Utah is prepared to challenge the agency in court. “Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”
Christie joins Utah in pushback against the CFTC over prediction markets
Cox is not alone among high-profile Republicans taking aim at the CFTC’s stance. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also weighed in on X, arguing that Selig’s position intrudes on territory traditionally managed by the states.
Christie wrote: “Violating the rights of states who have been regulating sports betting and the rights of the states who oppose sports betting is not the purview of another alphabet soup federal agency. That’s what you’re doing. Yes I am standing up for the rights of all 50 states. Proud of it.”
Selig has portrayed the backlash differently, suggesting it amounts to a coordinated campaign to block prediction markets across the country. In a post included with Christie’s remarks, Selig wrote: “Chris Christie is leading a campaign to ban American Prediction Markets in states across the country. We’re simply not going to allow that to happen.”
The main question behind this debate is whether or not these contracts are financial instruments overseen exclusively by federal regulators, or are they effectively sports betting products subject to state gambling laws?
Several states, including major gambling hubs, have taken steps in court to argue that many of these offerings operate like sports wagering and should follow state licensing rules, consumer safeguards, and age limits. The CFTC and the companies involved counter that the contracts fall under federal commodities law, warning that a patchwork of state bans could undermine what they see as a nationally regulated market.
For Cox, the products are labeled as derivatives, insisting they amount to “gambling—pure and simple.”
Featured image: Maryland Gov Pics / Economic Club of Washington Fireside Chat via WikiCommons / CC BY 2.0
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