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Business & Economy23 outlets ran this3 min read

LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets

D. Todd Christofferson spoke at the faith's general conference about the dangers of greed fostered by betting.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets

What this story says

  • D. Todd Christofferson, a top leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stated that online prediction markets and sports betting are fostering greed, particularly among youth.
  • The speech was delivered on Saturday in Salt Lake City during the church's semiannual general conference.
  • Christofferson described gambling as morally wrong, built on the desire to obtain something for nothing.
  • Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion and history, noted that institutions are grappling with the rise of predictive markets and sports gambling.

Who covered it

Left 50%(11)Centre 45%(10)Right 5%(1)

Percentages are shares of the 22 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 23 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

68/100

Craft

87/100

Hype

15/100

23 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

Only 1 of the 22 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

D. Todd Christofferson, a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, warned that the growth of online prediction markets and sports betting is encouraging greed, especially among young people, and producing "nothing of value." He delivered the speech on Saturday in Salt Lake City at the church's semiannual general conference. Christofferson stated that rampant betting among teenagers and young adults diverts time from studies and relationships, as smartphones make gambling accessible anywhere. He described gambling as morally wrong and built on the desire to gain something without effort.

Christofferson's declaration that prediction markets constitute gambling places the conservative church in contrast with the Trump administration, which has argued that platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are not gambling and should not be subject to state bans. Prediction markets allow wagers on a wide range of events. Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University, commented that the rise of predictive markets and the legalization of sports gambling are increasing across the country, and many institutions are confronting this issue.

Differing views on prediction markets

The My Mother Lode and The Independent (US) full reports state that the Church's stance on prediction markets as gambling puts it at odds with President Donald Trump's administration. The Trump administration has argued these platforms are not gambling and should not be subject to state gambling bans. None of the other reports mention this specific disagreement.

What the coverage left out

None of the reports printed below mention the specific date of the general conference beyond "Saturday." The full reports from My Mother Lode and The Independent (US) mention that the speech was delivered in Salt Lake City, but other digests do not specify the location.

Tags:#OnlineGambling#SportsBetting#LDSChurch#D ToddChristofferson#Greed#PredictionMarkets

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 3 Oct 2026, 22:30, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Prediction Markets Mormon Church
The Independent (US)Left

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

11 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports led with D. Todd Christofferson's warning that online prediction markets and sports betting are fostering greed among young people. The Salt Lake Tribune's digest headline stated Christofferson "decries all forms of gambling, urges members to stop betting." The digests from The Independent (US), The Seattle Times, Bangor Daily News, The Record, and St Catharines Standard all carried the core message about greed and youth.

Centre

10 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on D. Todd Christofferson's warning about online prediction markets and sports betting fostering greed among youth. The digests from My Mother Lode, WBAL, WPLG, WKMG, News 4 JAX, The Herald Journal, WSLS, Deseret News, and Winnipeg Free Press all highlighted this central theme. The My Mother Lode full report also noted the contrast between the church's view and the Trump administration's position on prediction markets.

Right

1 rated outlet

We have not written our reading of the right coverage of this story. The right-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets?
Of the 22 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 50% are rated left, 45% are rated centre, 5% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 23. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 22 rated outlets on this story, 50% are rated left, 45% are rated centre, 5% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets biased?
LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets is one event reported by 23 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered LDS Church Leader Warns Against Online Gambling and Prediction Markets?
23 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did LDS Church leader D. Todd Christofferson warn about?
D. Todd Christofferson warned that the rise of online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed, particularly among young people. He stated that gambling is morally wrong and built on the desire to obtain something for nothing.
When and where was the speech given?
The speech was delivered on Saturday in Salt Lake City at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' semiannual general conference. This event is held twice a year.
What is the church's stance on prediction markets?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through leader D. Todd Christofferson, declared that prediction markets constitute gambling. This view contrasts with the Trump administration's argument that such platforms are not gambling.

Read it at the source

23 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

11
Show 3 more

Centre

10
Show 2 more

Right

1

Not rated

1

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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