Evan Bianchi, the head of Spiro Harrison & Nelson’s appellate practice, filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) and the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) concerning the regulation of prediction markets, such as Kalshi, Polymarket, and Crypto.com.

Prediction markets have grown into a multi-billion industry that allow online betting not only on sports events, but also political and entertainment events. The brief focuses on whether state gaming regulatory regimes are preempted by the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which governs the trading of commodity derivatives.

The brief surveys numerous integrity and consumer protection components of state gaming regulatory regimes (such as licensing requirements, self-exclusion programs, advertising restrictions, and more), which cannot be found in the CEA. Through this comparative analysis, the brief argues that Congress did not intend to pass the CEA to regulate the field of gaming because the CEA lacks any semblance of a comprehensive gaming regulatory framework.

The appeal could affect states’ ability to enforce their gaming regulations on prediction markets.

The brief can be accessed here: North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. v. State of Nevada, Civ. Nos. 25-7187, 25-7516, 25-7831 (9th Cir.)