The American Gaming Association filed a formal letter to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday afternoon requesting to attend next month’s high-stakes roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C., to clarify the CFTC’s policy toward sports event futures trading.

The AGA memo, a copy of which was viewed by Sportico, reiterates the trade group’s stance that sports futures contracts from Crypto.com, Kalshi and others pose “an unfair economic threat” to sportsbook operators because the contracts resemble gambling. It also provides the most expansive argument to date that sports futures contracts violate tribal rights.

The letter is addressed to CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham and agency commissioners. The AGA confirmed the contents of its letter to the CFTC as legitimate.

Key stakeholders from the financial technology sector are slated to attend the gathering at CFTC headquarters sometime during the final two weeks of March. Sports betting industry insiders, who have not been invited to the roundtable, want to join the meeting to make the case that federally regulated sports futures trading too closely mimics sports gambling, which is overseen by state regulators.

The CFTC, which did not respond to a request for comment, has yet to publicly indicate whether it views sports betting groups such as the AGA as relevant to the discussion.

The letter brings up many of the issues that sportsbooks have with sports futures trading, including the argument that federal rather than local oversight enables financial technology companies to bypass state taxation and consumer protection rules that apply to sports betting.

Notably, the AGA also raises the prospect that sports event futures trading “tramples on tribal sovereignty” by competing with Native American groups that otherwise have exclusive rights under the law to offer wagers. This is a significant issue in states such as California and New Mexico, where betting is only legal on tribal land—and one not previously elucidated by the American Gaming Association in previous statements.

The AGA, which spent about $2 million on lobbying in 2024, serves as a main voice for sportsbook and casino interests.

“We believe these sports events contracts are problematic for a variety of public policy reasons, which we highlight briefly and would welcome the opportunity to discuss in more detail during the roundtable,” says the AGA letter to the CFTC, signed by senior vice president of government relations Chris Cylke.

While prediction markets have been around for decades, they have only recently moved onto the territory of U.S. sportsbooks. Kalshi offered election futures trading last fall before moving into sports, where it enjoyed strong Super Bowl returns buoyed by in-game transactions. Crypto.com is the other main player offering live sports futures trades, while Robinhood intends to resume its market later this year.

Sports event futures present users with binary prediction choices at a price determined by the open market. For example, people on Kalshi can buy a contract this week for $0.72 that pays out $1 if the Boston Celtics do not win the NBA Finals ($0.28 potential profit per deal), or a $0.28 contract that pays out $1 if the Celtics claim the 2024-25 title ($0.72 potential profit per deal).

While the AGA has expressed concern that scenarios such as the above are not currently regulated by the government as if they are gambling, some individual sportsbook operators have signaled an openness to eventually offer futures trading once the rules of the business become clearer.

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, for example, said last week that sports futures trading “increases the total addressable market for people who like those types of products, which is a good thing.”

President Donald Trump this month nominated Brian Quintenz, who is a Kalshi board member, to lead the CFTC. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. is an advisor to Kalshi.

Quintenz will require Senate confirmation for his CFTC post following a hearing in front of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, which is assigned the task because of the CFTC’s origins in commodities.