(AsiaGameHub) – SBC Summit Americas is set to launch a dedicated Prediction Markets Forum, which will dive into one of the fastest-growing and most hotly debated verticals within U.S. sports betting.
Scheduled for Thursday, 11 June as part of the Breakout Stage, this forum will gather operators, legal experts and industry analysts to look into the growth of prediction markets, the ways sportsbooks are entering this space, and the regulatory and integrity challenges that are defining its future. The four-session lineup will be chaired by Patrick Everson, a sports betting analyst and contributor for FOX Sports.
The recent boom in prediction markets can be traced directly to the 2024 presidential election, which pushed event contracts into the mainstream.
Since that election, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics have all taken steps to build a presence in this space, while platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket continue to grow in prominence via high-profile athlete sponsorships and multi-year league partnerships. However, a rising tide of lawsuits and enforcement actions from state and gaming regulators, paired with conflicting federal court rulings, has left compliance requirements far from straightforward.
“Prediction markets will shape the U.S. market in 2026. But navigating the gray area between financial trading and traditional sports betting is creating tangible uncertainty for this industry,” said Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and founder of SBC. “This forum will bring together the leaders who are building this space to help the sector understand what lies ahead.”
The forum will open with the introductory session, Prediction Markets 101. Dan Zucker, President of Zucker Media Group, will walk through how event contracts evolved from 19th-century economic hedging into a potential billion-dollar vertical. Along the way, he will break down how prediction markets actually operate, why their growth has accelerated so rapidly, and what their rise means for today’s gambling landscape.
Over the past 18 months, a number of major U.S. operators have expanded into the prediction markets space. During the session, How Sportsbooks Are Entering the World of Event Contracts, experts Dr. Laila Mintas (CEO, Dr. Mintas Consulting), David Huffman (COO, Sporttrade), and Dustin Gouker (Founder, The Closing Line) will analyze how and why the region’s biggest operators are making the move and whether state-by-state partnerships could prove essential in their strategy.
The panel, A Question of Compliance and Integrity, will address the regulatory and compliance challenges facing prediction markets in the U.S. Legal specialist Dan Wallach (Partner, Wallach Legal) will examine the regulatory framework governing event contracts and discuss the lawsuits brought by states and land-based gaming groups and the compliance challenges facing operators.
Looking ahead, What’s the Future of Futures?, will examine the long-term impact of prediction markets on the betting industry. Speakers Ilya Beylin (Associate Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law), Robin D Hanson (Associate Professor, George Mason University), and Chris Gerlacher (Senior Political Reporter and Industry Analyst, Prediction News) will discuss the potential consequences of Supreme Court scrutiny and what the future may hold for land-based operators opposing prediction markets and online sportsbooks seeking to integrate them.
The topic will also be covered on the Leaders Stage during the panel “The Current State of Prediction Markets in the US.” Experts Joshua B. Sterling (Partner, Milbank) and Alex Kane (CEO, Sporttrade) will examine how prediction markets are evolving across North America and how operators, regulators, and investors are responding to the rapidly changing landscape.
The Prediction Markets Forum forms part of SBC Summit Americas’ two-day conference programme. Alongside the Breakout Stage, delegates can attend sessions covering sports betting and casino, payments and technology, regulation and compliance, affiliation, leadership, and player protection across North and Latin America.
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