Big Bad Wolf

How to play Big Bad Wolf

The legal wrangling extends to Michigan, where Attorney General Dana Nessel has rejected Polymarket and the CFTC’s arguments that the Michigan Gaming Control Board has no regulatory authority over prediction markets, even the ones allowing traders to buy and sell shares of sports outcomes.

Since returning its prediction market to the US, Polymarket has regularly engaged in nonconforming advertising. Painting a water tower in the company’s blue and branding the structure with its logo is the firm’s latest marketing ploy.

In March, Polymarket opened The Situation Room, a pop-up “newsbar” in Washington, DC. The bar and lounge’s televisions played various content related to prediction markets, like Bloomberg Terminals, cable news, and live social media feeds that were “dedicated to monitoring the situation.”

How to play Big Bad Wolf

Some exchange operators already filed plans to introduce KPI-linked event contracts. Those derivatives would be tied to metrics such as corporate earnings or, in more nuanced cases, Apple iPhone shipments or Tesla deliveries — just two examples — in a given quarter.

While sports event contracts remain the headline-grabbers for prediction market operators, there’s evidence that other categories are experiencing growth. As Bernstein points out, cryptocurrency event contracts account for at least 20% of the turnover on the two largest prediction markets.

In another encouraging non-sports sign, one of those operators notched just $2 million in commodities volume last year, but that figure surpassed $410 million in August alone and is approaching $600 million on a year-to-date basis.

How to play Big Bad Wolf

“Although each jurisdiction has its own legal system, market characteristics and regulatory priorities, many of the challenges we face are increasingly global. Combatting the illegal market, preventing money laundering, protecting consumers and ensuring betting integrity require ever-greater cooperation among regulators from different countries.”

Macorin will attend the IAGR Annual Conference in Peru (19-22 October). There, regulators and industry representatives from around the world will discuss emerging challenges and opportunities in gaming and betting regulation.

“IAGR is extremely grateful for Fabio Macorin’s willingness to dedicate his extensive talents to representing South America at a pivotal time for gaming regulation across the region,” said IAGR Vice President Brian Krolicki.