Lawmakers in Illinois introduced a new bill on March 5, 2026, which aims to regulate prediction markets through a new framework supervised by the Illinois Gaming Board. The legislation, called Senate Bill 4168, proposed the Prediction Markets Regulation and Taxation Act, which would create a state licensing system and impose huge taxes on prediction platform
Lawmakers in Illinois introduced a new bill on March 5, 2026, which aims to regulate prediction markets through a new framework supervised by the Illinois Gaming Board.
The legislation, called Senate Bill 4168, proposed the Prediction Markets Regulation and Taxation Act, which would create a state licensing system and impose huge taxes on prediction platform revenue.
The bill would require all operators offering prediction markets to Illinois residents to get a master prediction market license from the Illinois Gaming Board and pay a $1 million initial licensing fee, which would be valid for 12 months. If operators wish to extend their license, they must pay $1 million annually for renewal and comply with both the Act and the Board’s rules.
The bill also proposed that sports trades must be prohibited, as contracts connected to athletic contests or any type of sporting event are fully excluded from the framework.
The bill defines that allowed prediction market contracts can include trades on political events, economic indicators, regulatory decisions, weather, or entertainment awards. The contracts can also be binary or with multiple outcomes.
The legislation also stressed that sports betting and casino-style gaming will be fully governed by Illinois’s state laws, and prediction markets cannot include these types of games in order to protect the existing regulated markets.