UFC President Dana White Taps President Trump to Help Reverse 90% Gambling Loss Deduction Rate

• UFC President Dana White penned a letter to President Donald Trump (R) asking for his help to restore 100% gambling loss deductions for U.S. taxpayers
• The gambling loss deduction rate was decreased to 90% as part of President Trump’s July 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)
• White noted the rate deduction could encourage sports bettors and gamblers to participate in unregulated, illegal markets

UFC President Dana White reportedly reached out to President Donald J. Trump (R) asking for his help to restore the 100% gambling loss deduction rate for U.S. taxpayers.

First reported by Dustin Gouker, creator of The Closing Line, White penned a letter to President Trump encouraging him to reverse the 90% limit on gaming loss deductions for U.S. taxpayers in the 2025-approved One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

An industry source also provided Sports Betting Dime with a copy of the letter.

Rate Deduction May Encourage Illegal Gambling

President Trump’s OBBBA was signed into law in July 2025, which included a change to the Internal Revenue Code that only allows professional gamblers to deduct 90% of their losses in a year, down from 100%.

White wrote in his letter that this change may encourage sports bettors and gamblers to migrate to illegal, unregulated markets to save money. The UFC, he said, supports a “healthy, legal sports betting market” to drive engagement.

“Beyond that, the change has knock-on effects for businesses like mine. The UFC supports a healthy, legal sports betting market to drive fan engagement, broadcast value, and sponsorships. When legal betting is discouraged, it hurts the ecosystem we’ve spent years building in partnership with state regulators and licensed operators. It also undercuts the transparency and integrity protections that legal betting provides for professional sports,” he wrote.

As the law currently stands, White wrote that in some cases it makes it “irrational to bet in the United States,” as sports bettors and gamblers can end up owing taxes when they lose or they have a tax bill that exceeds their winnings for the year.

White’s assertion is correct. Under the OBBBA, if a professional gambler wins $1,000,000 in a single year, but also loses $1,000,000, they may only deduct $900,000 in losses from their taxes. This means they will have to pay taxes on the $100,000 they cannot deduct, as if they had won the money.

Several Bills Failed to Reverse the Change

Several members of Congress introduced bills to reverse the gambling loss deduction change, yet none were able to get them across the finish line.

Rep. Dina Titus’s (D-NV) introduced the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation Act (FAIR BET Act) shorts after the OBBBA was signed into law in 2025. Her legislation attempted to restore the provision that allows professional gamblers and sports bettors to deduct 100% of their losses from their taxes.

While the bill did have bipartisan support, it never received enough momentum to be passed on its own, or as part of a larger bill.

Titus’s FAIR BET Act was not the only piece of legislation hoping to restore the tax deduction provision for professional gamblers. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) also introduced the Facilitating Unbiased Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy (FULL HOUSE) Act, while Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) filed HR 4630 as well.