The 2024 presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to be close. Where and how can you legally bet on it in the United States? 

Wagering on the outcome of the presidential election is not offered by any legal sportsbook in the United States. Currently, 38 states plus the District of Columbia allow some form of sports betting. Multiple jurisdictions offer markets on certain non-sporting events like the Academy Awards on top sports betting apps.

Political betting has long been a wish among those in the regulated sports betting space. Legal books overseas have offered markets for elections for years. And political betting is allowed on sports betting app in Ontario in Canada. 

But regulators have been firm across the nation in their aversion to political betting. 

Lawmakers Voice Concerns About 'Massive Political Markets'

And just this week, several U.S. lawmakers urged Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam to ban Wall Street from creating “massive political betting markets that could influence and interfere with elections and further erode public trust in democracy. “ 

One operator proposed such a market last year, but the CFTC rejected the proposal. 

U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and John Sarbanes (D-MD) wrote the following in part to Behnam:

“As we approach the 2024 election, voters already face a political system that allows the richest individuals and corporations to funnel dark money into campaigns without disclosure. The threat of violence and extremism is high, and the U.S. remains a target for foreign actors who have sought to meddle in our elections. The last thing that voters heading to the polls need are bets waged on the outcome of that election. Voters need action, as proposed by the CFTC in this rule, to restore trust. Elections are not a for-profit enterprise. Without this rule, voters will wonder if their vote mattered, and whether the outcome of the election was influenced by big money bets.”

“Election gambling fundamentally cheapens the sanctity of our democratic process. Political bets change the motivations behind each vote, replacing political convictions with financial calculations. Allowing billionaires to wager extraordinary bets while simultaneously contributing to a specific candidate or party, and political insiders to bet on elections using non-public information, will further degrade public trust in the electoral process. We urge you to promptly finalize and implement this rule to prevent the commodification of U.S. elections.” 

The comment period on this ends Thursday.

Election Betting Options In The United States 

Would-be election handicappers in the United States have a few options. Multiple offshore sites offer odds on the U.S. Election. 

The PredictIt platform offers multiple markets, including the U.S. presidential election and other key races. Customers can check the range of the available markets in which they can try and predict the outcome. You then have the chance to put your money down to back up where you think things are headed and buy shares for or against an event taking place. You make or lose money when you sell your shares. Like every other play, sometimes shares go up. And sometimes they go down. The PredictIt platform is a project of Victoria University, a college of the University of New Zealand.

On Wednesday, PredictIt sent an email to customers urging them to speak out against the CFTC's proposed rule. It said the rule would "prevent you, and everyone else in the United States, from taking part in election futures markets." It went on to criticize any characterization of its platform as "gaming." That is a "misguided notion that reduces election futures to little more than a spin of the roulette wheel. You know, and we know, that is wrong." 

Polymarket is the world’s largest prediction market. As of Wednesday, it had accepted more than $536 million in wagers on the Presidential Election Winner 2024 market. Of that, $66,877,560 had been wagered on Trump at various share prices. And $54,686,064 has been place backing Harris. It, too, allows people to wager the outcome of future events in a wide range of topics across politics, news, sports, and pop culture. Its numbers are used in conjunction with multiple political polls. Polymarket claims “research has shown prediction markets to be considerably more accurate, on average, than polls and pundits.”

Both platforms are available worldwide. Traders on both platforms use whatever information is available when making trades in the same way one would when placing a traditional wager. 

Unlike sports betting, the prices on both platforms are determined by the market and where the money is being placed and not fixed by oddsmakers. 

The platforms have different sign-up requirements and offer multiple ways to fund accounts.

Wild Betting Swings In The 2024 Election

The betting markets around the 2024 U.S. presidential election have settled to close to where they were before the June 26^th debate between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Except Biden has been replaced by Harris. 

Betting is allowed on the U.S. Presidential election at the legal sportsbooks in Canada using moneyline betting odds. 

At that time of the Biden-Trump debate, Biden was a slight betting favorite at -115 to Trump at +100 across most books that posted odds. 

Trump’s odds immediately spiked. By July 8, Trump was -200 at FanDuel in Ontario. Biden was +450 and Vice President Kamala Harris was +700. 

Trump’s price on Polymarket peaked at 70 cents following the assassination attempt on the former president at Butler, Pennsylvania on July 14. 

Immediately after Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race on July 21, Trump was -215 and Harris was +190. Trump shares were getting 61 cents at on PredictIt and Harris stood at 41 cents. 

Those prices have been moving in opposite directions since. As of Wednesday, Harris shares were selling for 56 cents, while Trump shares were fetching 48 cents. 

Polymarket posted its lowest numbers on Trump since the Biden debate Wednesday. Trump had a 51% chance to win on that site, while Harris’ probability stood at 48%. 

Trump is -125 at bet365 in Canada as of Wednesday, while Harris is up to +100.