FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 11, 2026) – On the heels of the 152nd Kentucky Derby, Attorney General Russell Coleman stood up for the Commonwealth’s ability to regulate sports betting on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. In a letter to the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a bipartisan majority of state AGs argued that the CFTC lacks jurisdiction over the platforms’ sports-related contracts.
Prediction markets are platforms where users trade contracts on the outcome of future events. The platforms allow users to place wagers on game winners, point spreads and player statistics, bypassing the consumer protections and tax requirements mandated by state gambling laws. The AGs argue these so-called “event contracts” are no different from traditional sports wagering, such as those regulated by Kentucky’s Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky has been setting rules for sports betting since well before the CFTC was created by Congress in 1974. The General Assembly created the first Kentucky Racing Commission in 1906 “to regulate the racing of running horses in the Commonwealth.” In their letter, the attorneys general underscore how states have the tools to set guardrails for sports betting and to protect users from problem gaming.
“There’s not a dollar’s worth of difference between prediction markets’ sports contracts and sports betting, and Kentucky has the jurisdiction and the responsibility to set the rules of the road,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Along with nearly every other AG in the country, we’re asking the federal government to recognize that states like Kentucky are well-positioned to protect our people, just like we have been doing for over a century.”
The attorneys general caution that sports gambling poses serious risks to public health and financial security, with millions of Americans qualifying as problematic or pathological gamblers. The coalition asserts that states – not the CFTC – are best equipped to protect their residents from the associated harms.
Attorney General Coleman joined the comment letter led by attorneys general from Ohio, Nevada, Tennessee, New York, Utah and New Jersey. They are joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Read the AG letter.