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U.S. Senate Convenes Landmark Hearing on Sports Betting Integrity

"No Sure Bets" subcommittee hearing puts the $165 billion U.S. sports wagering market — and prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket — under federal scrutiny following a wave of match-fixing scandals.

Category: iGaming News - USA · By Growl Games Editorial Team · Wed May 20 2026 · Updated Thu Jul 23 2026

U.S. Senate Convenes Landmark Hearing on Sports Betting Integrity

Table of Contents

1. Hearing Overview

The U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy convenes a hearing today, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET, titled "No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America." Chaired by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the session examines how the rapid expansion of legal wagering is affecting game integrity in professional and college sports. The U.S. sports betting market has grown into a $165 billion industry across 39 states and the District of Columbia since the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018.

2. Why Now: The Scandals Driving Federal Action

The hearing follows an 18-month run of federal indictments involving two MLB pitchers, former NBA players and coaches, and Division I college basketball athletes. In October 2025, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested over an alleged player-prop scheme tied to faking an in-game injury. A separate point-shaving case unsealed earlier this year named 20 individuals who allegedly bribed 39 NCAA athletes across 17+ Division I teams, fixing more than 29 games, with bribes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. The UFC, MLS, and Chinese Basketball Association have also been pulled into investigations.

3. Who Is Testifying

The witness panel mixes industry, regulation, and integrity monitoring: Bill Miller, President and CEO of the American Gaming Association; Mary Beth Thomas, Executive Director of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council; Scott Sadin, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360), the monitoring firm credited with surfacing several of the recent scandals; and former U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, now Senior Advisor to the Coalition for Prediction Markets. Subcommittee members joining Blackburn include Sens. Todd Young, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Ray Luján, and John Thune.

4. Prediction Markets in the Crosshairs

This is the first time any Senate body has directly addressed prediction markets — platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket that offer sports event contracts under CFTC oversight rather than state gambling regulators. Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Wisconsin tribes have all filed actions challenging the platforms in recent weeks. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has separately introduced the End Prediction Market Corruption Act, which would bar federal officials from trading on the venues. The hearing is expected to surface whether sports event contracts should be regulated as a financial instrument or as gambling — a distinction worth billions in market positioning.

5. Problem Gambling and Public Health Pressure

The National Council on Problem Gambling found in 2025 that nearly 20 million Americans reported repeated problematic gambling behavior in the previous year. In Pennsylvania, calls to the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline jumped from 330 in 2021 to 1,171 in 2024. Between January and September 2025, online gambling operators spent $37 million on advertising in the Philadelphia media market alone. Earlier this month, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), authors of the SAFE Bet Act, sent letters to the CEOs of 10 major operators — including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Kalshi, and Polymarket — demanding disclosures on advertising, deposit limits, and microbetting.

6. What Happens Next

Blackburn has signaled the subcommittee intends to produce a recommendation framework before the August recess, feeding into multiple bills already in markup. No immediate federal legislation is expected from today's session, but operators are bracing for tighter rules on microbets, in-play advertising, deposit caps, and credit card funding. Several states — Colorado, New Jersey, and Ohio — are already advancing parallel restrictions at the state level. For sportsbooks, casinos, and prediction-market operators alike, the federal era of fragmented state-by-state oversight is showing visible cracks.

7. Quote of Note

"Fair play is the foundation of American sports."
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chair, Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy

8. Sources

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