Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has predicted that the escalating battle over prediction markets will ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court, as states, federal regulators and the fast-growing industry clash over whether sports event contracts should be treated as federally regulated derivatives or gambling subject to state law.
Christie, now a strategic adviser to the American Gaming Association, made the comments during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, where he criticized the regulatory framework surrounding prediction markets and argued that the products are encroaching on states’ longstanding authority over sports wagering.
“What I know is the policy is wrong. It’s injurious to the states,” Christie said. “You’ve got 1.3 billion in tax revenue to states that have already been siphoned off by the predictive market companies, and they refuse to allow themselves to be regulated.”
Christie also raised concerns about the accessibility of sports-related prediction contracts to younger customers, contrasting the rules with those governing traditional sportsbooks.
“They’re marketing to college students,” Christie said. “They’re marketing to 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds who, in the sports gaming business, are not allowed to bet, they are allowed to bet on the predictive market.”
Asked what would happen if the state-regulation side of the dispute ultimately loses in court, Christie said he sees two possible paths: congressional intervention or a Supreme Court ruling.
“I think it’s going to go to the Supreme Court,” Christie said. He suggested that legislation such as the CLARITY Act could potentially settle the jurisdictional question by establishing that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission does not regulate sports gaming.
Otherwise, Christie argued, the courts will have to decide.
“The Supreme Court, I think, has been pretty clear on this—and it was our case that brought this out—that this is a state issue, and that the states are regulating effectively and there’s no reason for the federal government to come in,” he said.
CFTC and prediction market companies push back
The CFTC takes the opposite position. In February, the regulator said in a Ninth Circuit filing that it has “exclusive jurisdiction” over U.S. commodity derivatives markets, including event contracts commonly known as prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said efforts by states to regulate those markets disregard federal law and precedent.
It has put Christie directly at odds with Selig.
In the same month, Christie argued that federal intervention infringes on both states that permit sports betting and those that prohibit it.
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. t.co/cUcPoaFgHc
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) February 17, 2026“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,” Christie wrote on X. “Yes I am standing up for the rights of all 50 states. Proud of it.”
Selig responded by accusing Christie of pursuing a national campaign against the industry, writing: “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 CFTC has since continued to defend federal preemption. In April, the commission intervened in litigation in Massachusetts and said Congress had given it sole authority over commodity derivatives markets, including prediction markets. By May, the agency was also seeking to block Rhode Island from applying state gambling laws to CFTC-registered contract markets, adding to disputes involving Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York and other states.
Chris Christie disputes claims about enforcement and court losses as prediction markets face lawsuits
The argument intensified again after Christie publicly questioned the CFTC’s ability to police the markets.
Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, responded by accusing Christie of getting two important points wrong.
Good policy and legal debates turn on facts, not fiction. But Governor Christie's claims aren't based on facts.He says the CFTC has no investigators.Fact: The CFTC and the exchanges it regulates have entire teams of investigators — we talk all the time.He says prediction… t.co/3ptjJlCUIb
— robertjdenault (@robertjdenault) August 24, 2026“Good policy and legal debates turn on facts, not fiction. But Governor Christie’s claims aren’t based on facts,” DeNault wrote in the post provided.
On Christie’s assertion that the CFTC lacks investigators, DeNault said: “The CFTC and the exchanges it regulates have entire teams of investigators — we talk all the time.”
There is evidence of significant exchange-level enforcement activity. Kalshi told NPR that it launched more than 150 insider-trading investigations, blocked more than 100 attempted insider trades and referred at least 20 cases to law enforcement during the first quarter of 2026. DeNault has also described Kalshi’s surveillance and investigative systems, while acknowledging that “no system is perfect.”
DeNault also challenged Christie’s characterization of the industry’s court record. According to DeNault, Christie claimed prediction markets had lost “85%” of their cases.
“The legal split is much closer to 50-50,” DeNault wrote, citing the Third Circuit and courts in New Jersey, Minnesota, Tennessee and Arizona on one side of the developing legal divide, and courts in New York, Massachusetts, Nevada, Wisconsin, Utah, Michigan and Connecticut on the other.
The competing claims underscore how unsettled the law remains, with litigation developing across multiple jurisdictions rather than producing a single nationwide answer.
Utah joins the states’ rights challenge
Christie has found a prominent ally in Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who has similarly rejected the idea that sports event contracts should escape state gambling regulation simply because they are offered through federally regulated exchanges.
In February, Cox mocked the CFTC’s derivatives argument, saying he did not remember the commission having authority over the “derivative market” for “LeBron James rebounds.”
Cox was unequivocal about how he views the products: “These prediction markets you are breathlessly defending are gambling—pure and simple.” He added that they “have no place in Utah” and pledged to use the resources available to him as governor to fight the federal position in court.
The fundamental question is one now being litigated around the country: whether event contracts offered by federally regulated exchanges are derivatives governed by federal commodities law or, particularly when based on sporting events, function as sports wagers that must comply with state licensing, consumer-protection and age requirements.
Trump throws White House support behind prediction markets
President Donald Trump has firmly backed the federal-regulation side of the argument.
In May, Trump declared that “it is critically important that the CFTC’s exclusive authority over Prediction Markets is maintained, and that they will thrive.” He described prediction markets as a “new form of Financial Market” and praised Selig’s leadership of the CFTC.
Trump also singled out Christie and other state-level opponents of the federal approach, writing: “We cannot have SCUM like Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker setting the rules!”
That places Christie, a former Republican presidential candidate, on the opposite side of the regulatory dispute from the Trump administration despite the participation of Republican officials such as Cox in the state-led pushback.
His argument remains that sports wagering is a matter for the states—and that if Congress does not settle the issue first, the Supreme Court eventually will.
Featured image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Chris Christie says prediction market fight is headed for Supreme Court as states challenge CFTC ReadWrite.
Hence then, the article about chris christie says prediction market fight is headed for supreme court as states challenge cftc was published today ( ) and is available on read write ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Chris Christie says prediction market fight is headed for Supreme Court as states challenge CFTC )
Also on site :
- WWE RAW (August 31, 2026) - Roman Reigns to appear; Raquel Rodriguez vs Sol Ruca & more set for next week
- Walmart’s ‘Rustic and Elegant’ 16-Piece Stoneware Dinnerware Set Brings Coastal Farmhouse Charm to Your Table
- 1966 Hit, Ranked the Second ‘Greatest Garage Rock Song of All Time,’ Was Written by a 15-Year-Old Buddy Holly Fan