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A senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has publicly condemned the rise of sports betting and online prediction markets, calling both morally wrong and warning that the trend is harming young people.
Speaking at the faith’s twice-annual general conference, D. Todd Christofferson said the expansion of gambling is fostering greed and producing “nothing of value.” He said betting is increasingly consuming the time of teenagers and young adults and hurting their studies and relationships.
“For us as Latter-day Saints, overarching all other concerns is the fact that gambling is morally wrong,” Christofferson said. “Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing.”
Church stance clashes with federal view of prediction markets
The remarks also put the church on the opposite side of the Trump administration in the debate over prediction markets. According to the report, the church considers prediction markets to be gambling, while the administration has argued that platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket do not constitute gambling.
Christofferson cited examples of contracts on events ranging from rain in Los Angeles to whether the United States will go to war. He also mocked markets tied to the timing of the Second Coming, asking, “Where do you go to collect on that bet?”
The broader issue is drawing attention well beyond one faith. The report notes that opposition to gambling is also common among several other religious traditions and denominations, including the United Methodist Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, Islam, Hinduism and Catholicism.
Utah remains a key battleground
Utah has been at the center of the legal fight over whether prediction markets should be regulated as gambling or as financial products. A federal judge ruled in August that Utah officials can enforce the state’s strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets.
The state also enacted legislation this year tightening gambling laws and amending language in a way the report says would almost certainly apply to prediction markets.
That matters because Utah has long maintained one of the country’s toughest anti-gambling stances. The state has no casinos, no lotteries and no racetracks that allow bets.
For bettors and industry watchers, the takeaway is that prediction markets remain under active scrutiny at both the state and federal level, with Utah serving as one of the clearest tests of how those products may be classified going forward.
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Source: As reported by Matthew Brown and Hannah Schoenbaum.
