Gaming trade group adds Chris Christie to team fighting prediction markets
I’ve interviewed Chris Christie several times about his efforts in sports betting’s rapid growth across the U.S. Ironically, a quirk in U.S. Supreme Court rules kept his name off the decision. He was no longer governor when the case was decided, and Gov. Phil Murphy became the plaintiff in the case.
As New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie led the successful legal challenge that culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court allowing all states — not just Nevada — to legalize and regulate sports betting.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) is now turning to Christie to add firepower to the ongoing fight with prediction markets to protect a legal sports betting industry that has expanded to 40 states and Washington, D.C., and produced revenue of more than $13.7 billion in 2024.
His presence could also help in the nearly two dozen federal lawsuits filed by states and tribal gaming authorities that are looking to block prediction markets from offering sports wagering contracts in their jurisdictions.
In an interview with CNBC reporter Contessa Brewer, Christie said he believes prediction markets such as Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com, which offer sports contracts — the term companies use to describe the business — are illegal because they are not regulated by a state gaming agency.
Christie said prediction markets are not only bypassing gaming authorities in states that allow sports betting, but they are “flouting state law” in markets that have not legalized the activity, including California and Texas.
In a statement to The Nevada Independent, AGA spokeswoman Dara Cohen said Christie will provide strategic advice to the Washington, D.C., trade group.
“He brings significant expertise and a strong understanding of the legal framework around state and tribal authority,” she said.
During October’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, AGA CEO Bill Miller called prediction market operators “free riders” who “thumb their nose” at state and tribal gaming regulation.
In an end-of-the-year message to the AGA’s membership, Miller said the trade group’s position hasn’t changed: “Sports event contracts are gambling, and gambling is regulated by states and tribes. In 2026, we will continue to defend this framework and uphold state authority and tribal sovereignty.”
Christie played a critical part in getting the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act overturned by the nation’s highest court in May 2018. That decision allowed states to choose if they wanted to offer legal sports betting.
“The states have occupied the space to regulate sports gambling,” Christie told CNBC. “They were given the opportunity to do that … in a case that I fought six years to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. It’s been done in a way that is regulated and monitored to make sure that the integrity of the game is protected.”
Christie’s hiring followed the release of a research report on prediction markets by gaming industry advisory firm Eilers & Krejeck, which found that a mature industry could exceed $1 trillion in annual trading volume over the next few years.
Eilers & Krejcik Managing Director Chris Krafcik, who authored the report, said upward of 44 percent of the trading volume related to the prediction markets could be tied to sports contracts, “larger than financial markets or politics.”
“Prediction markets could become an important catalyst for reshaping both the betting and trading industries, and may increasingly blur the line between the two,” Krafcik wrote. “But myriad patches of risks, unknowns, and uncertainties are strewn across the path from here to there.”
Krafcik said the figures were “highly speculative” and that cash flow could be anywhere from 25 percent to 45 percent of the contracts.
Nevada has one of the court cases winding their way through the federal judicial process, with experts predicting that a legal remedy might not be in place until later this year.
In November, a federal judge ordered Kalshi to stop offering sports contracts in Nevada after ruling in favor of gaming regulators who filed a cease-and-desist order. The decision is being appealed.
Robinhood, another prediction market in a legal tussle with Nevada, agreed to cease offering sports event contracts in the Silver State pending further legal proceedings.
Also, sports betting leaders DraftKings and FanDuel announced plans to launch prediction market operations, but would stay out of Nevada.
Commercial casinos nationwide combined for a record $71.9 billion in gaming revenue in 2024, according to the AGA. Through October, nationwide gaming revenue was $64.3 billion, which included $13 billion from sports betting. It’s expected that new annual records will be set when the last three months of 2025 are included.
Citizens Bank gaming analyst Jordan Bender told investors Monday to “buckle up” because prediction markets will “dominate the conversation” over the next few months, given the calendar includes the NFL playoffs, Super Bowl LX, the Winter Olympics and the NCAA’s March Madness men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
“We are living through the wild, wild west with no proper regulation as companies across the gaming, media, and [financial technology] spaces are trying to grab any slice of the pie at this point,” Bender wrote.
Strip casinos have a rough November, but 2025 should end on a decent note
Absent a lucky streak at the tables by National Finals Rodeo fans or New Year’s Eve customers, December’s gaming revenue total should keep Strip casinos on the positive side of the ledger when 2025’s results are counted later this month.
Strip gaming revenue is up less than 1 percent through the first 11 months of 2025. In November, big-spending baccarat players — in town for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix — won at the tables, driving down year-over-year revenue on the game by almost 6 percent.
It would take a terrible December performance by casinos to send the state’s largest gaming market to a second consecutive annual decline.
Strip casino revenue has been a mixed bag all year — increases in six months and five months on the negative side. January’s $840 million total was the Strip’s second-highest all-time revenue mark. A month later, Strip revenue fell almost 14 percent compared to February 2024, when Las Vegas hosted Super Bowl LVIII.
Gaming analysts cited pricing concerns and international tourism declines as affecting the Strip throughout 2024.
“Visitation metrics and Strip RevPar [revenue per available room] are still soft,” Truist Securities gaming analyst Barry Jones said, citing an 8 percent drop in the metric used by the investment community to gauge profitability.
Strip visitation has fallen 11 straight months and is down more than 7 percent, which includes a 5 percent drop in November, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Special events helped fill Strip hotel rooms, but not enough to sway visitation figures. The Strip saw 3.14 million visitors, a 5.2 percent drop, even with the large SEMA auto industry trade show, three days of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and three Las Vegas Raiders home games at Allegiant Stadium.
Harry Reid International Airport, which has seen 10 straight monthly declines in passenger volume, saw its steepest decline of 2025 in November, down 9.6 percent. Through 11 months, the airport has seen almost 3 million fewer passengers compared with 2024. International passenger volume is down 6 percent.
The Strip’s issues haven’t floated into the other Nevada markets. Through November, downtown gaming revenue is up almost 2 percent, Reno is up more than 4 percent and the Las Vegas locals areas are up a combined 3 percent.
What I'm reading
🚬 Workers ask Murphy to force a vote on casino smoking ban before he leaves office — Wayne Parry, Press of Atlantic City
An employee group wants the Democratic governor to exert pressure on the Legislature to pass a smoking ban bill that has been stalled for nearly two years.
🤑 2025 was the year of sports gambling scandals — Ben Horney and Colin Salao, Front Office Sports
The NBA, NCAA, MLB and other sports were rocked by major betting and rigging scandals.
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