Massachusetts Gaming Chair Says Prediction Markets Reach Under 21 Users

Massachusetts is turning up pressure on prediction markets, and Jordan Maynard is putting the age issue at the center of that fight. In a local TV interview, the chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said those platforms are reaching users who cannot legally bet with licensed sportsbooks in the state.

Good to Know

• Jordan Maynard said prediction markets “openly target people who are under 21.”
• Licensed sportsbooks in Massachusetts require users to be 21 or older, while platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow access from age 18.
• Massachusetts is also working with BetBlocker to help block access to offshore sites and prediction markets.

Massachusetts Pushes Youth Safety Argument

Maynard drew a clean line between the licensed market and prediction platforms. “The legal market has robust technologies in place,” Maynard said. “But the illegal market and these prediction markets, they openly target people who are under 21.”

That three-year gap keeps driving the argument. College-age users who cannot open sportsbook accounts in Massachusetts can still access prediction market products. Regulators see that as a weak point, especially as those platforms keep growing.

Maynard used the interview to remind viewers that Massachusetts already built a long list of safer gambling tools. The state offers deposit limits, time limits, budgeting tools, and a self-exclusion program that covers casinos, sportsbooks, and racetracks. It also banned marketing to self-excluded players, required age-limit labels in gambling ads, and forced operators to notify bettors within 48 hours when account limits are imposed.

The commission has also shown it will enforce those rules. Last year, DraftKings took a $450,000 fine for failing to block credit card deposits. DraftKings later ended credit card deposits across the country.

Prediction markets remain a legal flashpoint in the state. Massachusetts became the first state to win a court ruling blocking Kalshi from offering sports event contracts. Kalshi later got a stay that let it keep operating while the case continues, but Maynard has kept the same view, saying those products amount to illegal sports betting under another label.

Maynard also said the commission is partnering with BetBlocker. The software can block gambling sites on devices, including offshore operators and prediction markets. He pitched it as a practical option for parents worried about underage access.

Advertising came up as well, and Maynard did not hide his view. “There’s too much advertising. They annoy me,” he said. Still, he added that the First Amendment limits state action, so he wants federal advertising rules instead of a state-by-state patchwork.