Prediction markets have spent the last two years moving rapidly from niche discussion points within gambling and crypto circles into a much broader mainstream conversation involving institutional finance, politics, media and regulation. Companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket have generated enormous attention around election contracts, sports-event trading and the wider idea that markets can increasingly be used to forecast future outcomes. Speaking to G3 shortly after the reveal of NEXTPredict.io, Lindh states that the most important development is not the publicity surrounding the sector, but the fact that prediction markets are beginning to break away from gambling entirely in how they are perceived, discussed and commercially positioned.
“I would frame it differently,” he says. “Prediction markets is not a subdivision of gambling anymore. It’s its own industry.” NEXT’s decision to create an entirely separate media and conference identity emerged from that belief. Internally, Lindh says there were lengthy conversations about whether prediction markets naturally belonged within NEXT’s existing gambling portfolio, but the conclusion was that the sector required its own language, editorial framing and audience positioning if the company wanted to establish real authority in the space. “We thought about it a lot internally,” he explains. “Prediction markets needs a different tone of voice, different terminology and a different ecosystem. NEXT.io is gambling. NEXTPredict is prediction markets.”
In conversation, Lindh repeatedly returns to the idea that prediction markets are evolving into something far broader than sports-event speculation. Personally fascinated by geopolitics, macroeconomics and forecasting, he describes being drawn toward the “wisdom of the crowd” concept that underpins his events organising philosophy. In his view, prediction markets function less like traditional gambling products and more like information systems, aggregating incentives and opinions in ways that can sometimes provide clearer signals than heavily filtered media narratives or polarised expert commentary.
“In today’s world, everyone online is trying to push you in one direction or another,” he says. “Prediction markets become an interesting antidote to that because money is attached to those opinions.”
Intellectual curiosity clearly plays a role in NEXT’s expansion into the sector, but practical business considerations were equally important. Lindh openly admits timing became critical because prediction markets represent what he sees as a rare first-mover opportunity within the events industry.
Conference ecosystems tend to consolidate quickly around a handful of flagship brands, he argues, and once those positions become established, they are notoriously difficult to disrupt. “In events, there is absolutely first-mover advantage,” he says. “If you establish yourself early as the flagship event in a new industry, it becomes very difficult for others to disrupt that position later.”
Ordinarily, Lindh explains, a conference of this scale would involve close to two years of development between concept and execution. NEXTPredict moved dramatically faster. Discussions around the project began internally in March 2026, before the company publicly launched the brand and event only weeks later in April. The compressed timeline arrived immediately after NEXT’s New York conference while preparations were already intensifying for the company’s Malta event, creating what Lindh describes as one of the most demanding operating cycles the business has experienced. “We come from live events,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a fast-moving world. When we believe in something, we move quickly.”
Despite joking about the grey hairs generated by adding another large-scale international event into the schedule, Lindh insists NEXT’s culture has been built around handling exactly that kind of pressure. He describes the company almost like an endurance operation, with teams conditioned over years of live events to cope with compressed timelines, constant deadlines and rapid execution cycles. “We’re like marathon runners internally,” he says. “Over the years you learn how to handle the pace.”
Much of Lindh’s philosophy around conference organising revolves around the idea that events are fundamentally exercises in storytelling. Long before delegates arrive onsite, organisers are already trying to convince speakers, sponsors, media and attendees that something important is about to happen. Every detail becomes part of that narrative, from the venue and city through to the timing of the event and the calibre of the first announced speakers. “Especially with new events, everything is storytelling,” he says. “You need people to believe in something before it fully exists.”
NEXT’s early commitment to Convene Hudson Yards in Manhattan formed part of that strategy despite the enormous financial commitment attached to securing a venue of that scale. Lindh describes New York venue pricing as “mind-blowing,” but argues that if the ambition is to establish the defining event in a new sector, the conference needs to project confidence immediately. “If you want to position yourself as the number one event in a space, you need the number one venue,” he says.
New York itself was viewed internally as essential because Lindh sees the city as the natural intersection point between financial markets, institutional capital, prediction market operators and global media organisations. Scheduling the summit just two weeks before the US Midterm elections was equally intentional, allowing the conference to position itself directly within the growing global fascination surrounding political forecasting markets and election trading. “The timing was absolutely on purpose,” he says. “We want professional traders discussing what the smart money is saying ahead of the elections while the whole world is paying attention with coverage from news outlets like CNN covering the conference.”
The strategy has already helped NEXT attract an unusually high-profile speaker roster for a first-year conference. Executives connected to Blackstone, Bloomberg Intelligence and Bank of America are already attached to the event, alongside industry figures such as Jeremy Levine, Alex Kane and Joey Levy. During the interview, Lindh also revealed that Kalshi’s CEO, Tarik Mansour, had recently committed to participate.
Building that lineup, Lindh explains, becomes a cumulative process built on momentum and trust. Organisers initially rely on relationships already established through previous events before using those early names to attract increasingly influential participants. “You start with the people who already trust you,” he says. “Then you use those names to bring in the next layer.” Convincing executives running multi-billion-dollar businesses to commit to a first-year conference requires more than salesmanship; you need to persuade them that the event itself is inevitable.
Editorial positioning also forms a major part of the strategy surrounding NEXTPredict. Lindh is keen to stress that the company does not intend to act as an advocacy organisation for prediction markets, nor does he want the summit to become an uncritical promotional platform for the sector. “Our role is not to advocate,” he underlines. “Our role is to open the doors for debate.” Lindh repeatedly frames the conference as a space for debate, disagreement and open discussion around where prediction markets are heading and what risks may emerge alongside their growth.
Conversations around consumer harm and speculative behaviour are expected to form part of those discussions, particularly as prediction markets continue attracting scrutiny from regulators and policymakers in the United States. Lindh argues gambling executives may actually understand some of those issues better than parts of the financial sector because gambling has spent years building frameworks around responsible gaming and player protection, while equivalent conversations around speculative investing and day trading remain comparatively underdeveloped. “People lose fortunes day trading,” he says. “Prediction markets will eventually have to engage with those conversations.”
At the same time, Lindh believes the level of institutional interest now surrounding prediction markets means the sector is unlikely to disappear regardless of how ongoing legal disputes around sports-event contracts ultimately unfold in the United States. In his view, the real long-term value of prediction markets lies less in sports betting and more in financial hedging, forecasting and risk management. “The major institutions are not really interested in sports betting,” he says. “They’re interested in hedging.” Major financial institutions, Lindh argues, are increasingly drawn toward that side of the sector rather than sports-event trading itself. Sports contracts may currently dominate headlines, but he believes institutional finance is far more interested in the broader possibilities surrounding risk management and predictive hedging.
Discussion eventually turns toward the wider conference industry itself and how NEXT intends to evolve as its own portfolio grows. Lindh describes successful events as balancing three interconnected pillars: commercial opportunity, networking and thought leadership. Exhibition space creates the business environment, networking facilitates relationships and unexpected meetings, while strong content gives operators and buyers a reason to attend in the first place. Remove one of those elements, he argues, and the entire balance begins to weaken. “If the content suffers, eventually the operators stop seeing the value,” he says.
Conference audiences have also changed dramatically over the last decade, according to Lindh. He recalls an era when gambling networking revolved almost entirely around nightlife and hospitality, with business deals often finalised informally in bars during the early hours of the morning. Modern audiences are far more diverse in terms of personality, working style and expectations, requiring organisers to think more carefully about how delegates actually experience events.
“Fifteen years ago, everyone just went drinking after the show and did business at one in the morning,” Lindh says with a smile. “Industries are much more diverse now.” Some delegates still prefer dinners and nightlife. Others network through golf, yoga or daytime activities. Some are naturally outgoing while others are not. Lindh believes truly successful conferences are built around recognising those differences rather than assuming every attendee wants the same experience. “At the end of the day, anyone can organise a decent event,” he says. “To organise an exceptional event, you need to understand what different people actually want from the experience.”
Commercial ambition clearly surrounds NEXTPredict, but Lindh insists the most important measure of success extends beyond attendance numbers or sponsorship revenue. What matters most, in his view, is whether the conference becomes recognised as the central meeting point for the prediction markets industry itself. “The KPI is whether the biggest institutional players in the world recognise this as the place to be for prediction markets,” he says. If that happens, Lindh believes the New York summit will become only the starting point for a much larger global events portfolio built around the sector. NEXT clearly sees prediction markets not as a temporary trend, but as a potentially permanent new vertical capable of supporting its own ecosystem of media, conferences and international business networks.
“This is just the first step,” Lindh says. “If the industry develops the way many people believe it can, then naturally the global event ecosystem around it will develop too.”
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Prediction markets have spent the last two years moving rapidly from niche discussion points within gambling and crypto circles into a much broader mainstream conversation involving institutional finance, politics, media and regulation. Companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket have generated enormous attention around election contracts, sports-event trading and the wider idea that markets can increasingly…
The post NEXT.io predicts big things in the big apple appeared first on G3 Newswire.