Trump admin sues Minnesota over ban on betting markets

The Trump administration is suing Minnesota over the state's ban on betting markets, contending that regulating such entities is the purview of the federal government and not the states.

Betting markets, increasingly called "prediction markets," have achieved national ubiquity since the 2024 election, when major sites such as Polymarket proffered themselves as viable alternatives to public polling. 

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., signed a ban into law this week, The Hill reported, resulting in the lawsuit. Specifically, the suit alleges that the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should regulate prediction markets and that federal authority preempts the state regulation on the issue.

Critics of betting markets have expressed concerns over their addictive nature, as well as the potential social impacts of further normalizing gambling in society.

The Minnesota ban outlaws operating or advertising a prediction market in the state and imposes criminal penalties.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.