An events company sells one thing: neutrality. Operators, regulators and investors share a stage because the host is not supposed to have a side.
So here is a real question, and I am not sure of the answer.
NEXT.io – The World’s iGaming Community – formerly iGaming NEXT – is a conference brand and a news portal. It now runs NEXTPredict, the first B2B prediction-markets summit, around 2,500 delegates booked into Hudson Yards. It also runs next.io/prediction-markets: a ranked comparison page pushing Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood and Crypto.com . CFTC disclaimer at the bottom, on the same affiliate funnel (NEXT Win) they already use for sportsbooks.
So the same house now ranks the platforms, hosts them on stage, sells them a sponsorship booth, and takes a cut when you sign up.
Is that a conflict of interest, or is it just what trade media looks like in 2026?
I can argue it both ways.
Against: editorial independence is the product. A “we ranked the best apps” page reads one way until you learn the publisher earns a commission on the click and a sponsorship cheque from the same brand. And every affiliate or media partner that shares a stage or a data feed is now feeding a business that competes for the exact same traffic.
For: every trade publication alive sells ads to the companies it covers. Affiliation is that model taken one click further. Readers are not children. A disclosure and a comparison table are not a betrayal. Prediction markets are new, unregulated and moving fast, and somebody was going to build the map and monetise it.
I ran operations for years, and the instinct that never failed me was blunt: watch who profits from the advice you are handed. Not to assume bad faith. Just to price it in.
Maybe this is fine. Maybe it is where the model is heading. Or maybe neutrality is the one thing an events company cannot sell twice.
Real question, no agenda – operators, affiliates, journalists: where do you draw the line?
#iGaming #PredictionMarkets #SportsBetting #GamblingRegulation #Compliance #OnlineGambling #AffiliateMarketing
