MGM and Caesars rule out prediction markets over licence risk and weak rules in the US

MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment have both said they will stay out of prediction markets, with their CEOs pointing to licensing risk and a regulatory gap around event contracts. For high-risk operators, the useful part is not the headline noise but the familiar pattern: if a product can be read as gambling in one state and as something else in another, the compliance team gets to have a very bad day.

1. MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the company looked at entering the sector in early 2025, possibly through BetMGM, but dropped the idea after Nevada regulators warned that offering sports event contracts could put MGM’s gaming licences at risk.
2. Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said his company would also avoid prediction markets. His point was straightforward: because Caesars operates in multiple states, any regulatory problem in one market could spill over into its wider casino business.
3. The discussion took place at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, where the CEOs said prediction markets are facing pushback from regulators in several states. That matters because the sector is not being judged in a single clean rulebook; it is being tested state by state, and the licensing consequences can follow the operator.
4. Reeg also questioned how current rules apply to prediction market contracts. He pointed to a contract tied to a possible acquisition of Caesars and said he did not believe the existing rules prevented him from trading on the market. He compared the situation to the early days of daily fantasy sports, when the sector expanded before states wrote clearer rules around it.
5. Hornbuckle raised the age issue as well. He asked why some prediction platforms allow participation from 18, when most US states require customers to be over 21 for casino gambling and sports betting. For operators and PSPs, that is not a side note; it is the kind of product-design detail that can become a licensing and KYC problem very quickly.