TLDR
- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission says it receives prediction market complaints it has no power to resolve.
- Chair Jordan Maynard told a US House subcommittee on November 11 that users confuse the two systems.
- Prediction markets generally allow users aged 18 and over, while state sportsbooks require users to be 21.
- State age checks have blocked at least 11,000 underage attempts to open sportsbook accounts.
- Licensed sportsbooks have paid over $1 million in fines and returned nearly $10 million to customers.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission says people are coming to it for help with prediction markets it does not oversee. The state regulator has no power to settle those complaints and sends consumers to a federal agency instead.
Commission chair Jordan Maynard raised the issue in testimony to a US House subcommittee on Wednesday, November 11. He said the contacts show many users cannot tell the difference between a state-licensed sportsbook and a prediction market platform.
An MGC spokesperson told Gambling Insider that the commission has been flooded with complaints it cannot resolve. Those consumers are referred to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees the platforms.
A Three-Year Age Gap
One clear difference between the two systems is the minimum age. Licensed sportsbooks in Massachusetts require users to be at least 21 years old.
Prediction markets generally allow users aged 18 and over to trade event contracts. These contracts are treated as federally regulated financial derivatives, not wagers. Regulators in several states dispute that position.
Maynard said the state’s age checks have worked at licensed sportsbooks. According to his written testimony, required age-verification technology stopped at least 11,000 attempts by people under 21 to open accounts.
The state also sets daily, weekly and monthly limits on deposits and wagers. Massachusetts bans proposition bets on individual college athletes and restricts sportsbook advertising on college campuses.
Maynard argued that these rules should not be bypassed by sports contracts sold as prediction market products. He also said the CFTC is not equipped to provide the same oversight as state gambling regulators.
What the Complaints Show
The commission receives requests for rule explanations, consumer protection help and responsible gaming support. Maynard did not publish the total number of inquiries the commission has received.
His testimony also did not name the operators involved or describe how individual complaints ended. It does not show how many of the requests involved money disputes.
Maynard compared those contacts with the state’s record against its own licensees. Investigations have led to 39 enforcement actions carrying fines, with operators paying more than $1 million to the state.
Licensed operators have also returned nearly $10 million to customers for errors the companies caused. The commission has no matching power over prediction market platforms.
Massachusetts legalized sports betting in 2022 and launched it in 2023. The fines and refunds come from the commission’s oversight of the operators it licenses.
The chair’s testimony does not give his agency any new authority. It also does not create a complaint process for prediction market customers.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Maynard urged Congress to protect state and tribal authority over sports betting. He called for a national ban on college player proposition bets and more funding for nationwide prevention research.
He also said he supports federal involvement, information sharing and cooperation between states. He told lawmakers the current two-tier system confuses users who cannot tell the products apart.
