MGCB to welcome new Chair beginning August 1, 2026

• The MGCB is set to welcome a new Chair as confirmed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the regulator
• The new appointee, Jim Townsend, will be stepping into the position on August 1, 2026
• The MGCB has been actively working against illegal operators and fighting against the prediction market sector

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) will have a new Chair starting on August 1, 2026, when James H. Townsend will step into the position. The news was confirmed on the regulator’s official website and comes after an announcement from Governo Gretchen Whitmer.

Henry WIlliams, MGCB Executive Director, has welcomed the news as well, saying: "Jim Townsend is a proven leader whose legal, legislative, and economic development experience make him exceptionally well-suited to lead the Board. I look forward to working alongside him as the Board carries out its critical mission on behalf of Michigan residents."

Townsend is coming in to replace Jim Ananich, who will be resigning at the end of the month. Townsend is joining the Board as chair alongside Board members Joni M. Thrower Davis, Mark Evenson, DeidreA. Lambert-Bounds, and Andrew T. Palms.

The new Chair appointment times at a busy time for the regulator. Only recently, the MGCB has cut ties with the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), because of the latter’s decision to admit Kalshi, a prediction market platform, as a member.

The MGCB has taken dim view of prediction market platforms, arguing that they flout state gaming laws. Prediction markets have, in turn, responded that they are not beholden to local gaming laws, and their operations fall under the purview of the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission.

Besides this, the MGCB has gone after individual gambling websites that it believes to have been breaching local gambling laws by offering gaming and sports betting products without authorization.

In April, the MGCB named 45 such operators, issuing cease-and-desist letters and threatening wider enforcement and regulatory action against any entity that failed to comply.

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