Mississippi demands state control of mobile sports betting prediction markets

Mississippi recently joined a national battle on prediction markets that mirrors its own long-fought state debate on mobile sports betting.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced on May 4 that she had joined a coalition of attorneys general from around the country pushing to return control of mobile betting to the states.

The heart of the issue lies with prediction markets such as Kalshi — platforms that allow people to bet money on the outcome of an event. Traditionally, this betting was generally reserved for sports scores and championship winners, but options have evolved, allowing people to bet on wars and political events like elections.

These platforms and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a national agency charged with regulating the country's trading market, have maintained that prediction markets fall under the federal government's purview. The commission has stated that federal law trumps state law, and the markets have been given relatively free reign in the country.

The position of the attorneys general and several federal delegates is that prediction markets bets are functionally identical to traditional sports bets, and states are responsible for regulating them. Prediction markets "are considered entertainment-based gambling rather than tools for financial risk management," according to a letter from the attorney general coalition, and "well-established case law" confirms that states have the power to regulate gambling.

Although platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to place bets on a wide range of events, the group's letter and Fitch's press release focus on sports betting on the apps. The messages, alongside hundreds of others from professional sports leagues and traditional sports betting platforms such as DraftKings, were shared with the commission as it prepares to institute new rules regulating prediction markets.

• https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2026/05/04/ms-attorney-general-demands-state-control-of-prediction-market-betting/89933591007/