Casino City’s Friday Five: Alberta iGaming and prediction markets edition

The prediction markets industry continued to make headlines this week, with major developments involving regulatory oversight, sports partnerships and market expansion. Polymarket agreed to halt sports event contracts in Michigan, while Kalshi struck a strategic deal with S&P Dow Jones Indices, and the NBA introduced an integrity framework for prediction markets. Elsewhere, Alberta's newly regulated iGaming market reported $122.1 million in revenue during its first reporting period, and the UK Gambling Commission sentenced three in election betting scandal.

Let’s begin with some news from Michigan:

5. Polymarket to halt sports event contracts in Michigan
Earlier this week, the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that Polymarket has agreed to stop offering new sports-related event contracts to Michigan customers, and to close out any remaining open customer positions by the end of the day on 25 November.

The agreement is the latest in a series of actions Michigan has taken this year against unlicensed operators offering sports wagering products disguised as federally regulated “prediction markets.”

It follows similar agreements recently reached with Coinbase Financial Markets and Robinhood Derivatives, as well as a state-court preliminary injunction obtained against Kalshi.

4. Alberta iGaming market generates $122.1 million in revenue
Alberta iGaming Corporation’s first Market Performance Report —covering 13 July to 30 September reported $122.1 million in revenue from iGaming.

Alberta’s market opened on 13 July 2026, with 15 iGaming operators and grew to 24 as of 30 September 2026. AiGC expects several more iGaming operators to move to the regulated market by the end of this calendar year.

Other highlights from the report include:

- Non-Adjusted Gross Gaming Revenue reached $22.2 million in July, $43.3 million in August and $56.6 million in September.
- During September, casino games were the leading product at 75.6 percent of the NAGGR market share, followed by sports and event betting at 19.5 percent, and live casino at 4.9 percent.
- There were 388,585 active player accounts in September, representing accounts with player activity during the month (not unique players, as players may have accounts with multiple Operators).
- Average Revenue Per Active Player Account was $146 in September.

3. NBA establishes integrity framework and commercial partnerships for prediction markets
On Monday, the National Basketball Association announced a set of agreements designed to establish a comprehensive framework for NBA-related prediction markets.

The agreements with Kalshi and Polymarket put in place significant integrity protections for NBA-related markets, including limitations on permissible markets, affirmative prohibitions on trading NBA event contracts by league and team personnel, and information-sharing obligations relating to investigations and suspicious trading.

“Announcing our partnership with the NBA is a significant milestone,” said Adam Barrick, Head of Sports Partnerships at Kalshi. “The relationship we’ve built together reflects a shared mindset that prioritizes fan engagement, innovation and safety. We believe in markets that are fair, safe, and open – it’s why millions of people are coming to Kalshi to trade with nationwide consumer protections. It’s an exciting time for both NBA fans and Kalshi users.”

The NBA has partnered with Kalshi as a Preferred Prediction Market Exchange.

Official NBA data to settle trades, stronger safeguards, and NBA branding on Kalshi.

Fans come to Kalshi because open markets are a fairer way to trade basketball. Now, it’s Official. https://t.co/1ANtToovTn
— Kalshi (@Kalshi) October 26, 2026

2. Kalshi, S&P DJI strike prediction market deal
S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kalshi announced a strategic collaboration that brings trusted benchmarks to prediction markets, pairing the leading index provider with the prediction market platform.

Under the agreement, Kalshi becomes a preferred prediction market platform licensed for event contracts tied to S&P DJI indices. In addition, S&P DJI becomes a preferred provider for constructing indices from Kalshi event contract data.

Forthcoming Kalshi event contracts will settle against official index values published by S&P DJI.

1. UKGC sentences three in election betting scandal
Three people have been sentenced by the U.K. Gambling Commission for offenses of cheating relating to bets placed on the date of the 2024 General Election.

Anthony Lee, Laura Lee and Amy Hind appeared at Southwark Crown Court on 23 October 2026 having previously pleaded guilty to offenses under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005.

- Anthony Lee received a custodial sentence of 10 months and 2 weeks imprisonment on each count to be served concurrently (Suspended for 12 months), 100 hours unpaid work to be completed in the next the 12 months;
- Laura Lee received a custodial sentence of 4 months and 2 weeks imprisonment (Suspended for 12 months), 40 hours unpaid work to be completed in the next 12 months;
- Amy Hind received a custodial sentence of 6 months imprisonment (Suspended for 12 months), 50 hours unpaid work to be completed in the next 12 months.

All defendants are subject to a probation requirement for the next 12 months and all defendants have a prohibited activity requirement for the next 12 months from using online gambling applications.

Three people have been sentenced for offences of cheating relating to bets placed on the date of the 2024 General Election.

Read more about this on our website ?? https://t.co/luzH1ySYpd https://t.co/IEecZquJq8
— Gambling Commission (@GamRegGB) October 23, 2026