Gambling.com Group CEO: Prediction markets an “obvious way” to grow business

Gambling.com Group CEO Charles Gillespie has said the growth of prediction markets marks a “clear, strong positive” for the affiliate amid a flurry of activity in the sector.

Speaking on an analyst call after the company’s Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings were released, Gillespie was questioned by analysts on his stance on both prediction markets and sweepstakes operators.

Prediction markets have come into sharp focus this year, with retail brokerage firm Robinhood having entered the fray with its March Madness sports event contracts this week.

Robinhood has tapped Kalshi to power the product, with Kalshi having gone live with its own sports event contracts earlier this year in time for the Super Bowl.

Crypto.com is another firm with sports event contracts live, having launched the product just before Christmas.

There are some concerns the offerings essentially bring sports betting to all 50 US states, leading to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requesting that Crypto.com and Kalshi pause the products while it further explores the repercussions.

However, with Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz having been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the derivatives regulator, the tide may well be turning.

Touching on prediction markets, Gillespie said: “In terms of prediction markets, this is an even newer kind of segment and it’s super exciting. This is a clear, strong positive for us, for multiple reasons.

“The CFTC regulation with prediction markets is not clear, but it is again a product which people want and it is basically new competition for state gaming regulators.

“There hasn’t been any sort of federal framework for any gaming-related products, but this kind of is it. And to the extent that this regulation gets clarified in a way that this can grow quickly, I think it certainly will.

“There’s a lot of interesting companies, big name companies with big balance sheets that are looking to enter this [market] or already have, and we are talking to all of them. It’s an obvious way for us to expand and grow the business.

“I think [prediction markets] are net incremental to the TAM. It could cut into the traditional, local state-based regulated sports betting operations, but I think it will grow the market more than it will impact them.”

On sweepstakes operators, which have been the target of cease-and-desist letters from state regulators in recent weeks, Gillespie was less effusive.

This week alone, it has emerged the Maryland regulator has sent cease-and-desist letters to both Virtual Gaming Worlds and High 5 Games.

High 5 Games is also facing charges in Connecticut over allegations it was operating an “illegal online casino” via its sweepstakes platform.

The Gambling.com Group boss remarked: “Sweeps is a funny one. It’s not exactly the most mainstream product but it’s a product which consumers really want. It’s a product which, at least in some states, seems to have a fairly clear legal standing.

“The operators of sweeps casinos are very aggressive, they’re very happy to buy traffic, and there’s a lot of them. We continue to take a very cautious approach to the entire category.

“It’s interesting, it’s growing, but we tend to focus on regulated markets and doing everything by the book. We look forward to more clarity on how those products are regarded.”

In terms of earnings, Gambling.com Group reported a 9% increase in Q4 revenue to $35.3m on the back of gains across its online casino arm.