Nevada’s leading authorities in preventing and treating problem gambling are joining state regulators and the casino industry to combat prediction markets, which, they contend, threaten to cut into the action of Nevada’s gambling enterprises and worsen the nation’s addiction to betting, especially on sports.
In less than a decade, legal sports betting, with the help of a U,S. Supreme Court ruling and the omnipresent smart phone, has morphed from a Nevada-centric novelty to a ubiquitous national pastime, with a slew of harmful side effects.
Nevada, once the only player in the legal sports betting game, has been relegated to the minor leagues in terms of revenue generated.
The American Gaming Association projects wagering on the 2026 NCAA tournament, excluding prediction market betting, which has not been officially estimated, will reach $3.3 billion, up 54% in the last three years.
Nevada’s 2025 March Madness betting was estimated at $466 million.
ESPN reports bettors wagered $1.9 billion on college basketball games in February on Kalshi alone.
In late December, the Financial Times reported trading volume on sports bets on Kalshi since its inception reached $16.8 billion, compared with $4.9 billion on other topics. By comparison, Nevada’s sports betting handle for 2025 was $8 billion, down 9% from the previous year.
Prediction platforms, critics argue, threaten to upend Nevada’s nearly 100-year history of profitable, regulated gambling.
Two betting sites, Kalshi and Crypto.com, are wrangling with Nevada gaming regulators and the Nevada Resort Association in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The platforms are challenging the constitutionality of state law, which requires that gambling enterprises have a state gaming license.
The Ninth Circuit last week denied Kalshi’s emergency motion to stop Nevada from enforcing its regulations pending the outcome of the appeal, according to Nevada Current. The ruling allowed Nevada to obtain a temporary injunction in state court prohibiting Kalshi from taking bets from gamblers in Nevada, at least until an April 3 hearing.
The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, which specializes in prevention, and The Dr. Robert Hunter International Problem Gambling Center, a leading treatment center, filed amici, or ‘friend of the court’ briefs in the Ninth Circuit case, where a hearing is scheduled for April 16.
“Kalshi and similar prediction markets are the newest craze in sports betting and have exploded into the cultural zeitgeist,” the NCPG’s brief asserts.
The council rejects the argument that prediction platforms engage in commodity trades. “If it behaves like gambling, it should carry the same guardrails, accountability, and public health obligations — otherwise you create a parallel market with fewer protections and higher risk,” says NCPG’s Executive Director Trey Delap.
Chief among Delap’s concerns is the speed at which prediction platform gambling moves.
“It eliminates ‘friction’ — virtually eliminating any sort of time delay in accessing money and breaks in play,” Delay, a recovering problem gambler, said Thursday. “These breaks allow for a moment of awareness where one may judge the impact of their play.”
State regulators argue Kalshi is subject to Nevada law when taking bets in Nevada. Kalshi and others contend their federal regulatory status under the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission exempts them from state oversight.
The CFTC “does not propound or enforce gaming regulations, especially those related to preventing and addressing problem gambling,” NCPG’s brief argues. “To allow Kalshi’s sports betting to be regulated only by the CFTC is effectively to allow it to be unregulated with regard to problem gambling risk.”
The CFTC recognizes its regulatory limitations, the brief notes, citing a 2024 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would have prohibited betting on political and sporting events.
Commission regulations, the proposed rule said, are “focused on regulating financial instruments and markets, and do not include provisions aimed at protecting gambling specific risks and concerns inherent to gambling. …Gambling is a rapidly evolving field, and the Commission does not believe that it has the statutory mandate nor specialized experience to oversee it.”
The proposed rule was withdrawn in January.
“Nevada’s model works because of proximity — regulators, operators, and support systems are integrated,” says Delap. “Removing that structure weakens protections for consumers.”
Unlike casinos or sportsbooks “where the gambling nature of the activity is explicit — Kalshi downplays or omits warnings related to addiction, loss of control, or financial harm,” NCPG argues in its filing. “Instead, Kalshi famously portrays itself as intellectually rigorous, socially valuable, and skill based.”
The filing contends that “Kalshi’s slick, easy to use platform mimics traditional gambling, meaning that the risk associated with the use of the platform is high.” Without safeguards, it asserts, “the use of Kalshi in the state of Nevada is a public health crisis waiting to happen.”
Nevada gambling regulation for in-person and on-line wagering includes a number of safeguards, including age and identity verification, advertising standards, mechanisms for self-exclusion from play, and funding for problem gambling programs. Online operators are responsible for additional measures, including limits on deposits, bet amounts, and time playing.
“These safeguards do not eliminate all risk. They manage it,” says the NPGC’s brief.
Almost half of digital sports betting ads viewed in the U.S. this year are from prediction market platforms, which are not subject to responsible gambling advertising requirements that apply to state and tribal gambling operations.
Kalshi is the most visible sports betting advertiser in the U.S., with about 5.2 billion digital ad impressions this year, according to research from the American Gaming Association. The second most prolific advertiser, Fan Duel, generated 2.9 billion impressions.
In January and February, nearly half of digital sports betting ads in the U.S. were for prediction platforms, and did not include responsible gaming messaging, as required by states.
In addition to lacking safeguards, the brief notes a dearth of national policy dialogue amid the explosion of betting on prediction platforms.
Gambling disorder, it notes, is “a clinical condition that can be diagnosed in individuals. Public health policy, by contrast, focuses on population-level exposure, accessibility, and environmental risk.” Public health policy examines not only “who develops a disorder, but how many people are exposed to risk, how frequently, and under what safeguards.”
“Increased access, speed, and normalization of wagering-like products are associated with higher risk of harm at the population level,” says Delap of the NCPG.
Critics of the multi-state effort to rein in prediction platforms blame anticompetitive state and tribal licensees, some of which have been known to stray outside the regulatory boundaries they now seek to impose on the platforms.
Consumer protection, prediction market advocates argue, is a priority for licensees only when faced with a new form of competition, such as tribal or internet gambling.
“This isn’t about protecting consumers,” Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour wrote on X this week of the effort to ban sports betting on prediction platforms. “It’s about protecting monopolies.”
An analysis by the National Council on Problem Gambling found that on average, states with legal gambling met only 32 of its 82 recommended player protection standards. Nevada aligned with 24 of the NCPG’s standards, landing it in the bottom tier of compliance with ten other states.
A University of Nevada Las Vegas Institute of Gaming study published last year found 15% of Nevada adults are defined as problem gamblers, meaning they’ve experienced harm from their gambling “many times” in the last year. The national average is 2%, according to the National Council.
Yet, the state’s commitment to adequately funding problem gambling prevention and treatment has long been lacking.
Problem gambling organizations in Nevada have historically declined to opine on whether betting is inherently good or bad. Their prevention and treatment efforts are often supported by casinos, financially and in other ways, such as making promotional material about problem gambling accessible to gamblers.
Delap contends the council’s brief does not signal alliance with the gaming industry.
“In informing the court on the public risk and harm, our position would be the same regardless of gaming’s position,” he said, adding that “since the harm of problem gambling is felt at the community and state level, we should have authority to protect the public.”
Mojave (Nev.) head football coach Wes Pacheco announced on Sunday morning that he’s stepping down from his position, according to a social media post.
Pacheco announced his resignation after six seasons at the helm of the Rattlers, putting together a 29-22 overall record from 2020-2025.
“I have officially stepped down as Head Coach of the Mojave Football Program,” Pacheco said in his social media post. “Thank you to Principal Cole for giving me the opoortunity make an impact on the lives of Mojave Student-Athletes. I am grateful and blessed to have labored through a 6-year journey of successes, failures, life lessons, character building and growth with the student-athletes myself and my coaching staff have served. I will forever love my Mojave Family, the Mojave Community and believe in the notion that SUCCESS can be attained by showcasing character, treating everyone with respect, and always have the courage to dream big and trust that “ATTACKING THE HARD WORK” & “HIGH MOTORING EVERYTHING” can yield SUCCESS that you want to achieve in life!”
During Pacheco’s half dozen seasons leading Mojave, his best record came in the 2024 season when the Rattlers finished with a 12-1 record. Located out of North Las Vegas, Mojave had to compete against the likes of national high school football powerhouse Bishop Gorman during the regular season.
Mojave ended the last season with a 4-6 record and as the state’s No. 23rd ranked team, according to the final 2025 Nevada High School Football Massey Rankings.
Mojave High School, located in North Las Vegas, NV, is a dynamic public high school that fosters academic excellence, personal growth, and community involvement. Home of the Rattlers, MHS offers a wide range of academic programs, athletics, and extracurricular activities. With a strong commitment to student success, Mojave emphasizes leadership, college and career readiness, and a supportive school culture that prepares students for life beyond graduation.
For Nevada high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Silver State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across Nevada.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
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Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
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