US iGaming and sports betting: 2025 review and 2026 outlook, with Kleiman, Pascrell and Lycka

Prediction markets are pulling operators away from US state licences. In the year-end US edition of the iGaming Exchange, moderator Jeremy Kleiman, Bill Pascrell III and Martin Lycka review 2025 and look ahead. Their 2026 view is gloomy.

In this episode

• Underdog withdrew from the Missouri sports betting market within days of being licensed, to offer prediction markets instead; Lycka says that makes "purely commercial" sense, as one federal licence can serve a country of 330-plus million (7:55, 9:44).

• Pascrell expects prediction markets to become "more and more stable" and legitimised over the next three years, and says state attorneys general going after them have not been all that successful (15:22, 16:43).

• Kleiman lists the operator advantages: a minimum age of 18, a 50-state market, no state gaming tax such as New York's 51%, and, "if you're lucky", capital gains treatment for winnings (22:39).

• Pascrell calls the federal SAFE Act "a horrible bill" and says the states have gotten it right; he gives it no chance before 2029, and Lycka agrees (42:36, 42:54, 46:14).

• Lycka notes that regulators such as Ohio have warned licence holders that dealings with prediction markets could risk their licences (29:59).

• On new online casino states in 2026, Lycka calls them "unfortunately unlikely", Pascrell sees "very little chance", and Kleiman says it is "not going to be a good year" (53:59, 56:46, 58:09).

Episode from Hipther TV by HIPTHER, published on YouTube.