July 18, 2025
| TO: Indian Gaming Association Member Tribes & Partners FROM: Ernest L. Stevens Jr., Chairman Jason Giles, Executive Director RE: ACTION NEEDED! Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to Consider CFTC Nominee Brian Quintenz Hearing is scheduled for July 21st at 5:30 p.m. Date: July 18, 2025 |
| This week, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (“Committee”) is set to vote on the appointment of Brian Quintenz to Chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). In response to Mr. Quintenz’s nomination hearing, which isscheduled for July 21st at 5:30 p.m. IGA, NCAI, and the American Gaming Association (“AGA”), among other concerned entities, has authored and circulated a letter to the Committee, raising their concerns surrounding Mr. Quintenz’s adequacy for the position. We now ask that our IGA members tribes contact their Senators and Committee members to urge them to stay Mr. Quintenz’s nomination until he has committed to initiating a CFTC review of sports-based event contracts if he is confirmed as CFTC Chair. Throughout his Nomination Hearing, Mr. Quintenz could not provide forthright answers to questions on his approach to events contracts, including sports-based events contracts, which are of great concern to tribal gaming operations and are the subject of pending litigation in the Third Circuit. In addition to his vague answers on CFTC’s inaction surrounding these events contracts, many tribal gaming operators are also concerned about Mr. Quintenz’s conflicts of interest in overseeing these matters. As we have reported in prior alerts, Mr. Quintenz is a former CFTC Commissioner and, more notably, a former board member of KalshiEX, LLC (“Kalshi”), one of the financial services companies engaged in sports-based event contracts. Concerned parties found that his testimony failed to instill confidence in his ability to maintain the CFTC’s impartiality in these matters. We have reported in the past that in late 2024, Kalshi and other CFTC-registered prediction platforms, began to offer sports-based event contracts. These contracts ultimately amount to sports-betting platforms in that they permit the buying and selling of predictions on the outcomes of sporting events. This raises significant public policy concerns as these companies are being permitted to bypass the entire regulatory scheme that governs state and tribal gaming operations. This is being carried out in violation of the CFTC’s own regulations, which explicitly demand the CFTC review contracts that “involve, relate to, or reference” gaming as violations of public policy. Accordingly, many tribal nations, state attorneys general, regulatory agencies, and business entities raised their concerns that these platforms violate both federal statutes, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”) and the Wire Act, and state gaming laws. Although it is the role of the CFTC to investigate such matters, the CFTC has yet to respond and has left the matter to the courts. It is important to underscore the CFTC’s ongoing failure to act in response to the sports-based event contracts and the gravity of Mr. Quintenz’s failure to commit to reviewing such contracts. Many find it troubling that, during his nomination hearing, Mr. Quintenz refused to assure the Committee that under his leadership the CFTC would enforce its own regulations. Even more troubling is the sentiment that Mr. Quintenz would follow his own interpretation of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). Further, when asked whether he would review events contracts to ensure that they comply with IGRA and principles of tribal sovereignty, he did not give a clear answer. Based on our understanding of Mr. Quintenz’s testimony, should the Committee move forward with his appointment to the CFTC, unregulated sports betting will continue, absent an explicit court mandate. Given the pace of the ongoing litigation, this could mean that it may take months to years before these harmful gaming practices and infringement upon principles of tribal sovereignty are checked. Not only did Mr. Quintenz fail to adequately answer the questions on sports-based event contracts by Committee members, but IGA is concerned that that he also provided lackluster answers when questioned about potential conflicts of interest stemming from his former position on Kalshi’s board. He did the same when asked about his ability to push back on pressures from other Kalshi board members and advisors, including the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr. While Mr. Quintenz did say that he was willing to take all avenues to comply with applicable ethics protocols, including screening methods, in response to Senator Booker’s concerns regarding Kalshi’s indirect connections to the President, he explained that he would only “pledge to have a conversation” about the relationship to Kalshi and his objectivity. This conflict of interest is concerning to tribal gaming operators and regulators, especially in light of the CFTC’s current inaction on matters involving unauthorized sports betting. The Committee will likely make a final decision on Mr. Quintenz’s nomination this week. It is vital that our members now contact their Senators and Committee members with their concerns on this matter and request that, as a pre-requisite to any further consideration for his appointment, Mr. Quintenz commit to the investigation of sports-based events contracts. For our members’ reference, we have attached a copy of AGA’s outreach letter to this Alert. Please contact Danielle Her Many Horses at dhermanyhorses@indiangaming.org with any questions or concerns regarding this Alert. Download Tribal Letter – Click Here |
Nov / 2025
ACTION NEEDED! NEED AMICUS SUPPORT BY NOVEMBER 12 FOR CONTINUED CFTC LITIGATION
Oct / 2025
Indian Gaming Association Announces Leadership Transition Following the Passing of Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr.
Oct / 2025