May 4, 2026 – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general urging federal regulators to reaffirm that states, not the federal government, should oversee sports-related event contracts tied to betting.

According to Fitch’s office, the coalition filed a formal comment with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission arguing that so-called prediction markets have effectively become unregulated sportsbooks.

“Mississippi, like many states, has carefully balanced competing interests to allow responsible sports betting here,” Fitch said in a statement. “The CFTC should not upend that balance, usurp state authorities without a clear Congressional directive, and leave states with the responsibility for cleaning up the impacts of sports betting without the ability to regulate it on the front end.”

The coalition said prediction market platforms allow users to wager on outcomes such as game winners, point spreads and player statistics while bypassing state gambling regulations and consumer protections.

In the comment letter, the attorneys general argued that there is no meaningful difference for consumers between traditional sports bets and sports-related event contracts offered on designated contract markets.

The coalition contends that those contracts do not serve the traditional purposes of derivatives markets, such as hedging or price discovery, and instead function as entertainment-based gambling, which they say falls under state authority.

The attorneys general also warned that sports gambling can pose risks to public health and financial security and said states are better equipped than the CFTC to regulate or prohibit such activity.

The letter was filed in response to a CFTC request for public comment on proposed rules for prediction markets. The coalition urged the agency to confirm through rulemaking that it does not have jurisdiction over sports-related contracts.

Fitch joined attorneys general from 40 other states and the District of Columbia in signing the letter.

By Morgan Howard
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