National Council on Problem Gambling Continues Defense of Prediction Markets Membership Subcategory

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) remains on the defense of its controversial prediction markets membership category that the nonprofit launched earlier this year that coincided with a $2 million contribution. A screenshot of the National Council on Problem Gambling website lists an open role for a senior manager in Financial Services & Trading Initiatives. The role is funded by a $2 million grant from the prediction markets industry. (Image: Casino.org) Despite claims by the prediction market industry and its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), that trading on the swaps platforms constitutes financial investing and not gambling, the largest US-based prediction market joined the NCPG as a Platinum Member in May. The NCPG created the Financial Services & Trading membership category and launched the Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative with the $2 million grant. Derek Longmeier, board president of the NCPG, acknowledged Tuesday (Sept. 22) the ongoing criticism. Regardless of how prediction markets are currently legally defined, NCPG believes it is functionally gambling and can expose consumers to many of the same risks and harms associated with traditional gambling,” Longmeier said. “The exposure today—in scale, in speed, and in reach to new and often young users—is unprecedented. NCPG is neutral on whether prediction markets should be legal. We are not neutral on the need to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm wherever it occurs,” Longmeier said. NCPG Maintains Neutrality The NCPG is the only national nonprofit dedicated to minimizing gambling-related harms through advocacy and awareness programs. The organization runs the National Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-MY-RESET / www.1800myreset.org) and funds research into problem gambling. The NCPG has always maintained that it neither supports nor opposes the legalization of gambling. It is also adamant that its members and donors have no control over its research, advocacy, or public positions. Longmeier claims the NCPG created the Financial Services & Trading membership subcategory not because a prediction market offered $2 million for it to do so, but because the explosion of prediction markets since debuting sports-event contracts late last year poses another gambling-like threat to consumers. Longmeier cited a Harris Poll in June commissioned by the NCPG that found 85% of Americans agree that people can develop unhealthy or addictive behaviors on prediction market platforms. The poll found that 84% think prediction markets should be treated as gambling with similar consumer protections. “For more than 50 years, NCPG’s mission has been to serve individuals and families experiencing gambling-related harm. That mission has never depended on a regulatory ruling or a legal label, and it does not now,” Longmeier said. People are experiencing real financial, emotional, and relationship consequences as a result of prediction markets. The harm is not theoretical, and we cannot wait to act,” Longmeier continued. “NCPG exists not to litigate whether prediction markets or other emerging activities meet a legal definition of gambling, but to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm wherever it occurs,” the NCPG board chair concluded. NCPG Exits Despite the NCPG’s best efforts, its prediction markets membership subcategory has already cost it three members in the Michigan Gaming Control Board and Ohio Casino Control Commission. The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling also severed ties with the NCPG. Several other current NCPG members say they’re reviewing whether to renew their memberships. The post National Council on Problem Gambling Continues Defense of Prediction Markets Membership Subcategory appeared first on Casino.org.