Hollywood Studios Crack Down on Insider Betting on Prediction Markets

Key Highlights

Amid growing concerns about insider trading on prediction markets, film studios are tightening betting restrictions for employees.

Hollywood Studios Introduce New Betting Restrictions

On November 5, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) reported that several Hollywood studios and production companies had tightened restrictions on prediction market betting. The report acknowledged THR’s parent company, Penske Media Corporation (PMC), as one company updating its employee policies amid concerns that workers could use confidential industry information to wager on entertainment outcomes at Kalshi and Polymarket. The restrictions aim to prevent employees with access to non-public information from gaining an unfair advantage in entertainment betting markets.

Employees may have early access to casting decisions, film release schedules, and financial results before those details become public. Under the reported rules, they cannot use that knowledge to place bets. The restrictions also cover passing inside information to friends or family members who might wager on their behalf.

Entertainment markets can involve subjects that attract public attention. Examples include the winner of Dancing With the Stars season 35, the casting of the next James Bond, and the full lineup for Avengers: Doomsday. The intersection of entertainment and betting is particularly notable as total sportsbook handle exceeded entertainment spending in 2025.

Companies Strengthen Policies & Reporting Measures

Some companies are taking steps to enforce restrictions. One reportedly created an anonymous hotline where people can report co-workers for suspected violations. Meanwhile, PMC has updated its employee handbook to prohibit prediction market betting. Those changes affect employees at other PMC properties, including Variety and Deadline. They also show that concerns extend beyond studios and production crews to organizations covering the industry.

The tighter policies come as prediction market companies attract attention in popular culture. At the Grammy Awards, host Trevor Noah joked about betting on himself through Polymarket. Actor Timothée Chalamet also appeared in a Kalshi advertising campaign over the summer. Another recent Kalshi ad titled “The Weathermen” played as a four-minute short film, featuring comedic personalities Shane Gillis and Danny McBride.

These developments have placed prediction platforms closer to the entertainment business, where staff learn details early. Although rules governing prediction market betting already exist, the reported company policies reflect a direct attempt to address workplace access to confidential information.

Insider Betting Rules Face Enforcement Challenges & Loopholes

Enforcing the guidelines may prove difficult, despite clear company rules. A bet does not necessarily reveal whether the person placing it received information. That can make it challenging to connect a wager to someone with inside knowledge. There are also many different platforms at which employees can trade contracts, including the recently launched DraftKings prediction platform in California.

Other situations raise questions about who counts as an insider. Audience members attending pre-taped television shows might learn the outcome before an episode airs. They could then place bets using information most viewers have not seen, even though they are not industry employees. These and other factors will make it difficult for companies to investigate internal claims of insider trading, cautions Columbia Law professor Joshua Mitts.

“With blockchain-based trading, it can be basically impossible [to catch a bettor] if you know how to use a mixer correctly and know how to hide your identity behind multiple layers of intermediation,” Mitts says. “So it’s quite hard for employers to suss it out through an open-source investigation.”

For Hollywood companies, the focus is on preventing employees from profiting from confidential details or sharing those details with others. Whether these policies can prevent questionable bets more widely is less certain, especially when information reaches people outside the workplace.