A former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) questioned if sports event contracts could pass a “fundamental” financial test to justify their existence.
[Dan] Berkovitz was nominated by President Donald Trump in April 2018 to serve as CFTC commissioner. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in August 2018 and was sworn in just over a week later for a five-year term that expired in April 2023.
Despite his connection to Trump – a strong supporter of sports event contracts and the CFTC’s authority to regulate prediction markets – Berkovitz questioned the validity of these markets.
“We found that there wasn’t an economic purpose under the (Commodity Exchange Act) to sports betting contracts,” Berkovitz said on “The Policy Protocol,” while describing ErisX’s application to list NFL contracts in 2021.
