UK gambling stocks pushed higher on Monday following the announcement that U.S. senators will introduce bipartisan legislation to prohibit prediction market platforms from offering sports betting contracts and casino-style wagers. The market reaction was led by Flutter Entertainment and Entain, which both recorded notable gains early in the trading day.
As of 08:25 ET (12:25 GMT), Flutter Entertainment - the parent company of FanDuel in the U.S. - rose 7.6%. London-listed Entain, whose brands include Ladbrokes and a joint venture with MGM called BetMGM, climbed 6.4% over the same interval.
The proposed bill, put forward by Senators Adam Schiff and John Curtis, would bar entities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from offering contracts that are tied to sporting events or to games commonly considered casino-style. The legislation explicitly references CFTC-regulated platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket as being subject to the restriction.
Prediction exchanges have attracted attention because of their trading mix. Kalshi has reported that sports betting represents roughly 90% of its trading volumes. By operating as federally regulated exchanges, these platforms have been able to avoid state-level gambling licensing requirements - a structural advantage that, according to market observers, has been a headwind for traditional bookmakers and operators on both sides of the Atlantic for months.
Regulatory pressure at the state level has also intensified. In Arizona, authorities have filed a 20-count criminal case against Kalshi, and cease-and-desist orders have been issued to such platforms by 11 states. Those developments compound the legal uncertainty facing prediction-market operators that include sports contracts in their offerings.
The legislative proposal and state-level actions intersect with the current market positions of established operators. FanDuel, operated by Flutter in the United States, commands approximately 43% of the U.S. sports betting market. Entain’s partnership in the BetMGM venture generated $2.8 billion in revenue in 2025, underscoring the scale of legacy operators in the market.
Market takeaway: Announcements of federal legislative action targeting sports contracts on prediction markets corresponded with a marked rebound in share prices for major UK-listed gambling companies, reflecting the potential shift in competitive dynamics between federally regulated exchanges and traditional, state-licensed operators.