Keep Gambling Out of Utah

Where I stand

Utah doesn’t allow gambling. No casinos, no lottery, no sports betting. Our Constitution says the Legislature “shall not authorize any game of chance, lottery or gift enterprise under any pretense or for any purpose.” Utahns chose that, and I agree with them. That includes the new betting apps, and I support requiring every sports, gambling, and prediction app to use geolocation so Utah’s line actually holds.

The problem

Apps like Kalshi and Polymarket let anyone with a phone bet on football games, player stats, elections, even wars. They call the bets “event contracts” and claim federal law lets them ignore state gambling bans. Sports is where most of their money comes from: Kalshi saw more than $1 billion traded on a single Super Bowl.

Calling a bet a trade doesn’t change what it is. A real market moves risk that already exists, like a farmer locking in a price for his crop. A bet creates risk out of nothing so someone can lose money on it.

Why it matters to Utah families

Gambling doesn’t stay with the person placing the bet. It shows up in the family budget. In states that allowed online sports betting, bankruptcies rose about 28% and more debt went to collections. Another study found that for every dollar bet on sports, families invested about two dollars less. That’s money out of savings, college funds, and retirement.

It reaches kids, too. In a 2026 national survey, 36% of boys ages 11 to 17 said they had gambled in the past year.

Utahns have long understood this. At General Conference in October, President D. Todd Christofferson warned that the smartphone has made gambling available continuously, privately and almost anywhere, and that it hurts young people most. People of many faiths, and plenty of no faith, agree.

Utah is fighting back. Washington is pushing the other way.

In 2026, Utah passed HB 243, which treats prop bets as gambling no matter what a company calls them and covers “sweepstakes” casino apps too. A federal judge upheld Utah’s right to enforce its laws against Kalshi.

Meanwhile, the federal agency that oversees commodity markets is suing states that try to keep these apps out, and has ordered the apps to stop blocking users in states where courts have restricted them. Utah’s own Rep. Blake Moore and Sen. John Curtis have teamed up with Democrats on bills to rein them in. They’re right.

My plan

Keep all of it out of Utah. Sports bets, prediction markets, online casinos, and “sweepstakes” casino apps. Back the attorney general in enforcing the law.
Let states decide. Congress should make clear in law that states can enforce their gambling bans against these apps, and reverse the federal order forcing them into every state.
Require geolocation on every betting app. I support laws, state and federal, requiring all sports betting, gambling, and prediction market apps to verify each user’s actual location and ID at every bet and block VPNs. Companies would pay fines for every customer served where the product is illegal.
No betting on war or death, anywhere, and no betting by officials on government actions they know about in advance.
No betting ads aimed at young people, including influencer deals and college partnerships.

The bottom line

Utah decided long ago that gambling isn’t good for families, and we’ve been right. A new name doesn’t change that. Keep it out of Utah.