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    • Can racing withstand the addition of yet another existential threat to the ever-expanding list of practices deemed harmful to our sport's health? Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, warned last week that the rising wave of prediction markets should be met with a greater sense of urgency and should be getting more scrutiny from racetrack operators and regulators. “I'm growing more and more concerned about the prediction market companies, such as Kalshi, Polymarket, and others that are now offering bets on sports and, I believe, their intention is to do it on horse racing in the future,” Drazin said during the Nov. 19 New Jersey Racing Commission meeting. Prediction markets are similar to betting exchanges–even though those who operate them tend go to great lengths to get people to believe that users aren't technically “gambling” when they choose a side, stake money, have their proposition matched by an opposing, anonymous user, and then see their accounts either credited or debited based on the outcome of that event. Users trade contracts like they might on a commodities exchange, winning or losing money on the outcomes of games, races, sports league championships, elections and other yes/no types of propositions that they strike directly with other users instead of wagering against the house (like with sportsbooks) or against other bettors (like in a pari-mutuel market). The appeal for prediction market users is lower takeout or vigorish (instead, a small “trading fee” that might be as low as .5 to 2% gets extracted), and, as part of that equation, the prospect of more generous odds and being able to bet against an entity by backing it to lose. But at the same time, under current models, prediction markets aren't operating with explicit permission or broad licensing deals from any United States racing entities, meaning they aren't regulated at the state level (like racing and sports betting) and don't feed back revenue to the Thoroughbred industry to pay for purses. The Betfair exchange has for years accepted trades on American horse racing, and a quick Google search over the weekend for “horse racing prediction markets” turned up a London-based site called Smarkets that was offering buying and selling on every U.S. track running Nov. 22. Both Betfair and Smarkets prohibit U.S.-based users from opening accounts, but both sites (as well as a number of other offshore exchanges) are seeking ways to legally operate in America. “New Jersey has laws on sports betting and on racing,” said Drazin, an attorney who in 2018 successfully represented co-plaintiff New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association in a longshot legal odyssey to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, paving the way for legalized sports betting. “And these companies are operating under the [federal] Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). They're not paying any taxes. There's no integrity regulation. And it's invading sports betting revenue that we currently receive.” As CFTC-licensed entities, sites like Kalshi and Polymarket can offer event contracts in all 50 states. Although Kalshi has yet to put up markets for horse racing, Polymarket had a volume of $1.2 million on its market for the 2025 GI Kentucky Derby. “One of these companies had a meeting with me,” Drazin said. “And the first slide they showed me was [the 2026 GI] Haskell [Stakes] coming up. And they want to offer a wager, 'Will the favorite win, yes or no?' And they don't believe they have to pay a host fee. They don't believe they have to compensate the tracks at all. “I believe, to the contrary, that this is controlled by the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA). And I certainly will be in court if they try and offer a [Haskell] wager,” Drazin said. Earlier this year, the NBA, NFL and MLB (which each have official partnerships with sportsbooks) expressed written concerns to the CFTC about potential integrity issues regarding prediction markets. But not every sports league is intent on fighting the newcomers. On Oct. 22, the NHL announced multi-year licensing deals with Kalshi and Polymarket that will allow the companies to use the league's data and logos, similar to the league's contracts with its partnering sportsbooks. According to ESPN, the American Gaming Association (AGA), a casino trade group, characterized the NHL's actions as “deeply concerning” and described Kalshi and Polymarket as “backdoor gambling schemes masquerading as 'financial products.'” Drazin continued: “Without getting political, I think there are certain individuals, like Donald Trump Jr., that's on salary with Kalshi and an investor in Polymarket. And [President Trump] is making an appointment to the CFTC which will support this agenda… “But most of the action so far has been by the sports betting regulators,” Drazin said. “The New Jersey [Division of Gaming Enforcement] tried to stop them and they were unsuccessful. That's on appeal to the Third Circuit. Nevada tried to stop them. There was an injunction issued, and [on Nov. 16] Nevada's judge, hearing this issue, said he may reverse that injunction… “The California tribes filed an action. The Massachusetts attorney general filed a state court action. Maryland filed an action, [and] although they were successful in getting an injunction, then they made a deal, [that until] the Supreme Court decides it, they're going to let this continue… “The companies are getting very, very aggressive,” Drazin said. “There's been more and more going on as the days unroll. So now FanDuel and DraftKings have entered [the prediction] market. As a result of that, the AGA has asked them to leave, because they won't tolerate someone who's offering these wagers. “Nevada took away [FanDuel's] license. There are some states that are saying, 'If you enter the [prediction] market, you're not suitable to hold a license [for regulated sports betting] in our state,” Drazin said. “Some suggest that you need state laws that prevent [prediction market companies] from operating in your state [and] to give regulators the ability to criminalize it,” Drazin said. “But I'm not going to venture to say what New Jersey should do on that. I'll evaluate the issue. I think our attorney general is front-and-center in handling this. “But on the racing front, no one seems to sense the danger yet, because they say, 'We'll wait until it happens, and then we'll deal with it.'” Drazin said. “I think you have to be proactive with these things. I don't think you can wait until it happens, and then run to court,” Drazin said. “Ultimately, I think this is going to the United States Supreme Court. So it will [likely be decided] three or four years from now,” Drazin said. “But I'm firing a warning to everybody, not only in New Jersey, but in all the other states, that this is an issue that we're going to have to deal with or we're going to lose revenue,” Drazin said. The post The Week in Review: Drazin on Prediction Markets as Threat to Racing: ‘No One Seems to Sense the Danger Yet’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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