The American Gaming Association (AGA) and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) paid close attention to Michael Selig’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) nomination hearing, and they want him to take a firmer hand on sports event contracts.
After Selig punted questions about how he would handle sports-related prediction markets, telling the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Nov. 19 that he would defer to court rulings, the AGA and the California tribal coalition each published statements implying that they were dissatisfied with his responses.
The committee ultimately voted 12-11 to advance Selig’s nomination for a full Senate vote. All Republican members voted yes, while all Democrats in the committee opposed.
Important questions unanswered, says AGA
Selig is currently Chief Counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force and was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the new chairman of the CFTC after Brian Quintenz’s nomination was rescinded.
In a statement on LinkedIn on the day of the hearing, before the vote took place on Nov. 20, the AGA opined that Trump’s new nominee failed to provide an adequate explanation of how he views sports contracts and what stance he would take on the products if he were to lead the federal regulator.
“[The] hearing left important questions unanswered regarding Mr. Selig’s views on prediction markets’ aggressive foray into sports betting,” wrote the AGA. “Rather than explaining how the agency he is nominated to lead would interpret and enforce its clear rules that prohibit gaming, he indicated he would instead wait on judicial determinations that could take years to resolve – and leave consumers at risk in the interim.
“The American Gaming Association will continue to defend the longstanding sovereignty of states and tribes to regulate gaming, and work with Congress to ensure the CFTC prevents gambling masquerading as financial products.”
CNIGA points Selig toward D.C.
Selig’s comments on waiting for the courts came as active litigation pertaining to sports contracts continues in more than half a dozen courts across the U.S. In some of the major decisions, Kalshi lost a motion for a preliminary injunction in Maryland, but won similar appeals in New Jersey and Nevada, while the latter of those states won a decision that offlined Crypto.com.
In another 2025 lawsuit, three tribes including members of CNIGA sued in July to stop Kalshi and its partner Robinhood from offering sports on tribal lands, claiming violations of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). However, a federal court judge denied their motion for a preliminary injunction for several reasons.
In a statement on Nov. 21, CNIGA Chairman James Siva pointed to the 2024 lawsuit in D.C. which allowed Kalshi to offer election contracts. That court ruling, Siva said, gave evidence that Kalshi’s sports contracts have already been legally held to constitute gaming. In that case, Kalshi itself argued that ‘gaming’ related to contracts including, “for example, whether someone will win the Powerball lottery by a certain date, or whether a certain team will win the Super Bowl.”
“We suggest Mr. Selig start by looking to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which held in Kalshi v. CFTC that the term ‘gaming’ includes sporting events,” wrote Siva. “We need the CFTC to respect the longstanding authority of state and tribal governments to define, regulate and oversee any gaming activities that take place within our borders.”
Siva added that while CNIGA looks forward to working with Selig to help chart the future of prediction market products, he stressed the California voters “overwhelmingly” rejected legalizing online gambling in the past. He voiced the tribes’ hopes that Selig would work with states and tribes to shut down sports or casino-related event contracts.
“Today, prediction market operators are exploiting a regulatory vacuum to push a sweeping, back-door expansion of gambling to every corner of the country, regardless of existing federal, state, and tribal laws,” Siva wrote. “These products violate federal, state and tribal government laws, as well as the CFTC’s own regulations, and the CFTC has failed to take action to stop such illegal activities.”
