Fortune Ox

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During the second half of 2026, prediction markets have endured the wrath of a plethora of state governors, most notably Kathy Hochul of New York.

As the NFL season begins, a state in close proximity to the New England Patriots became the latest to attempt to curb the influence of the trading platforms. On 10 September, one day after the Pats’ season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont addressed the growth of the markets during a speech in downtown Hartford. On the same day, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection issued cease-and-desist orders to nine unregulated operators, including Polymarket, Robinhood and Underdog Predict.

“Prediction markets have branded themselves as legal and safe, but the reality is they are not adhering to Connecticut’s consumer protection standards,” Lamont wrote in a statement.

About Fortune Ox

Helios, a specialist consultant in gambling web traffic, analysed the number of black market websites actively marketing across the 28 markets included in the report, between March and May.

This data was cross referenced with SimilarWeb traffic analysis to confirm the scale of activity. In some markets, the number of illegal sites being actively marketed was much higher than those that have local licences to operate.

This was true of France, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus, Belgium, Spain, among others.

About Fortune Ox

The biggest game for bettors at Caesars Sportsbook was Lions-Bills, while the most favorable for the house was Vikings-Bears—a 9-3 defensive battle won by Minnesota.

“Sunday early games brought a sharp reversal,” Feazel said. “Underdogs and defenses came out swinging, offenses went quiet, and touchdowns were much harder to locate. In Week 1, it felt like everyone with a jersey found the end zone. This Sunday, even the end zone required a reservation.”

Still, some bettors landed massive payouts on Thursday night. A $100 same-game parlay on Lions at Bills returned $50,000, hitting on first-touchdown and anytime-touchdown props for Josh Allen, Amon-Ra St. Brown, James Cook, Jahmyr Gibbs, Dalton Kincaid, and Sam LaPorta.