New Prediction Market Consumer Advocacy Group Sports Traders Union Demands Reforms

A new consumer advocacy group called the Sports Traders Union launched Thursday, aiming to give prediction market bettors a voice in an industry debate that has largely been framed as a fight between exchanges and traditional sportsbooks. The group is made up primarily of professional bettors with prominent social media followings who are active users of the top prediction market platforms, including Kalshi.

Unlike some of the louder voices in the ongoing prediction markets fight, the Sports Traders Union says it isn’t positioning itself as a mouthpiece for either side. Its founders want to be seen as an independent watchdog rather than what the group describes as a “lobbying puppet” — a jab at how both sportsbooks and exchanges have accused each other of funding astroturfed opposition throughout 2026.

What the Group Is Demanding

The Sports Traders Union’s initial list of demands touches on several areas where prediction markets have drawn criticism from regulators and researchers alike. Chief among them is raising the minimum participant age to 21, up from the 18-and-over threshold currently used by most prediction market apps — a standard that mirrors traditional casino and sportsbook age requirements in most states.

The group is also pushing for changes to product design and marketing practices, along with expanded funding for problem gambling addiction resources. Perhaps most notably, the Sports Traders Union is calling on prediction market companies to publicly release data on retail user losses, an area that researchers have long flagged as frustratingly opaque compared to the disclosure requirements regulated sportsbooks face in most states.

Funding and Leadership Ties

Some of the Sports Traders Union’s funding comes from Novig, a federally regulated betting exchange, which could raise questions about the group’s independence given Novig’s own stake in how prediction markets are regulated going forward. Isaac Rose-Berman, who sits on the group’s advisory board, maintains that the organization operates independently of its backers.

The advisory board also includes well-known figures in the sports betting and trading world: Jack Andrews, Antonino De Rosa, Rufus Peabody and Shane Sigsbee. Looking ahead, the Sports Traders Union says it may begin publishing public report cards grading prediction market companies on how well they adhere to a proposed code of conduct. Rose-Berman didn’t shy away from the tension that could create, acknowledging that a poor grade for a major player like Kalshi wouldn’t be well received internally.

A Crowded and Combative Space

The Sports Traders Union enters an industry already defined by sharp elbows. The Coalition for Prediction Markets, a trade group formed to defend exchange-style betting, has frequently pushed back on criticism of its members — including Kalshi and Robinhood — by characterizing detractors as a “casino lobby” with financial motives to slow prediction markets down.

Whether bettors view the Sports Traders Union as a genuinely independent voice or another faction in that fight will likely depend on how the group’s early report cards and reform proposals land. For now, it adds one more organized voice to a regulatory conversation that shows no signs of slowing down as prediction markets continue to expand their footprint in sports betting. Anyone weighing where to place bets, whether on an exchange or a regulated sportsbook, will want to keep an eye on how these reform pushes shape the rules going forward.