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Read Full BioSara Slane, a former Senior Vice President of the American Gaming Association and a key figure in repealing the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), has joined prediction market player Kalshi.
In a post on X, Slane wrote that she is Kalshi’s new Head of Corporate Development. She will “help handle” the firm’s “integration demand” from a “staggeringly” long list of companies ready to integrate as brokers with the New York City-based futures exchange firm.
Her new role will also include overseeing Kalshi’s government relations and public affairs matters and liaising with pro-sports leagues.
Slane: Kalshi Growth is ‘Explosive’
Slane oversaw Public Affairs during her five-year stint at the D.C.-based gambling lobbying and promotion association.
She headed the AGA’s public affairs department when the Supreme Court overturned the PASPA (aka the Bradley Act).
This legislation was launched in October 1992. It effectively banned sports betting in most states, except Delaware, Montana, Montana, and Nevada.
However, in May 2018, the Supreme Court repealed the act, ruling that it violated aspects of the Tenth Amendment.
Slane had lobbied for the launch of regulated betting in the pro sports leagues sector. Shortly after, she left to launch a consultancy named Slane Advisory.
Her firm began working with Kalshi “a few months ago,” she wrote on X, adding: “Never in my career have I seen a company with the combination of characteristics that Kalshi has: bold vision, outlier founders, deep commitment to regulatory compliance, and astronomical growth.”
Legal Battles Ahead?
At Kalshi, Slane will look to navigate the firm through legal high waters. Its prediction market is currently battling cease-and-desist orders in multiple US states.
Kalshi says it is prepared to defend itself in the courtroom. It has already launched lawsuits against regulators in Nevada and New Jersey.
The firm’s CEO Tarek Mansour recently claimed that only the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has the power to regulate Kalshi and its prediction market products.
The CFTC is set to complete a review of sports contracts-based betting by the end of next month.
On X, Slane added: “There’s palpable industry excitement about the benefits prediction markets can provide, and I’m thrilled to be working towards a future where all of the operators have prediction markets as part of their product.”
Speaking to Sports Business Journal, Slane explained: “A lot of it right now is just educating everybody, because there’s just so much misinformation out there. It’s hard to crack through some of that. But that’s what they’re hoping I can do.”
