Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman David Z. Bean took the organization’s message on the growing threat of illegal prediction-market gambling to Tulsa, Okla. on Thursday.
Joining Bean at the meeting was Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan at the University of Tulsa’s Lorton Performing Arts Center.
Bean delivered a forceful message to Oklahoma tribal leaders gathered for the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma quarterly meeting. Indian Country must remain united, engaged and relentless in protecting Tribal sovereignty and the legal foundation of Indian gaming, warned Bean.
“It takes a team effort to address any threat to Indian Country. It takes a team effort to address any existential threat against Tribal sovereignty,” Bean said. “And that’s exactly what these prediction markets present: an existential threat to Tribal sovereignty, to Indian gaming.”
At issue is the threat from prediction markets, which have expanded beyond wagering on elections, weather and pop culture to include sports betting, creating a pathway into online gambling while seeking to operate under federal commodities law rather than the established federal, tribal and state gaming regulatory framework.
For IGA, the issue goes beyond lost gaming revenue.
It raises fundamental questions about jurisdiction, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and whether outside companies can enter Tribal and state jurisdictions to offer gambling without the consent of the governments with legal authority to regulate it.
“We shouldn’t have to first demonstrate the negative impacts of any illegal activity. Let’s start and acknowledge there is illegal activity to begin with,” Bean told Tribal leaders. “All we’re asking Congress to do is demand the CFTC enforce their laws.”
Bean commended the extensive outreach and collaboration taking place across Indian Country, emphasizing that the progress made on prediction markets has resulted from Tribal Nations and Native organizations working together with a unified purpose.
“We don’t do it alone,” Bean said. “We work alongside all the Tribal organizations and Tribal leaders. We work with state attorneys general and the American Gaming Association. We also work with consumer protection groups.”
Tribal leaders have traveled to Washington, D.C. in significant numbers over several weeks this summer to educate members of Congress about prediction markets, the CLARITY Act and the consequences for Tribal sovereignty and regulated gaming.
“When Tribal leaders show up in D.C., it is noticed. It has a great impact,” Bean said.
Bean said that direct tribal participation has helped move congressional discussions beyond basic questions about prediction markets and toward a broader understanding of their impact on Tribal Nations, states and the national gaming regulatory system.
“We are working nationally to protect your right to engage in sports betting,” Bean said. “For any Tribe with interests, we’re working to protect their right to do so by educating Congress, engaging with the relevant federal agencies, engaging with our relatives from the American Gaming Association, engaging with industry experts and, most importantly, getting input from Tribal leadership across the nation.”
“Tribal input and participation have a strong impact across Congress and the Courts,” Bean said. “I can’t overstate the importance of that.”
United Indian Nations of Oklahoma Executive Director Margo Gray said the organization will continue to elevate the issue for its member tribal nations and to work alongside national and regional partners.
“United Indian Nations of Oklahoma continues to elevate the issue of illegal gaming markets that infringe on the sovereignty of our Tribal nations,” Gray said. “I want to thank David Bean, Chairman of the Indian Gaming Association, and Matt Morgan, Chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, for meeting with our members and sharing how they, alongside UINO, are advocating to rein in these illegal gaming markets. Together, we continue to push for action by state and federal lawmakers to exercise the appropriate oversight.”
Particular concern during the UINO discussion centered on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s lack of meaningful engagement with Indian Country.
The CFTC has invited representatives from 16 Tribal organizations to participate in a September 14 roundtable on prediction markets. The meeting follows yearlong requests from IGA for Tribal consultation, along with repeated calls from senators and Tribal advocates for the agency to engage Indian Country.
Bean said IGA’s experience with the agency has raised serious concerns about whether the latest outreach represents meaningful consultation or simply an effort to satisfy political pressure.
The late Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr. had requested engagement and Tribal consultation with the CFTC as the prediction-market issue emerged in early 2025. After Bean assumed the chairmanship, IGA intensified those efforts and secured a meeting with CFTC leadership.
“My predecessor, Chairman Stevens, requested a meeting with the CFTC, requested a tribal consultation,” Bean said. “He wrote them a letter. He verbally requested it. The CFTC agreed to it in April 2025, then abruptly cancelled it without explanation. When I took over early in 2026, we requested a meeting with the acting-chair of the CFTC, then the nominated candidates to the CFTC, and finally to the Senate-confirmed CFTC Commissioner.”
Bean described the eventual meeting as dismissive and lacking meaningful engagement.
“That was a check-the-box type meeting,” Bean said.
IGA specifically raised the federal government’s Tribal consultation responsibilities and the importance of government-to-government consultation when federal actions have significant consequences for tribal nations.
