Kalshi blocked from offering sports contracts on two California tribes’ lands after federal judge grants preliminary injunction A federal judge has barred Kalshi from offering sports-event contracts on the reservation lands of two Northern California tribes, marking a significant win for tribal gaming authorities in their legal fight over prediction markets. What happened - On November 4, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Blue Lake Rancheria and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me‑Wuk Indians. The order prevents Kalshi Inc. and KalshiEX from offering sports contracts to users located on those tribes’ Indian lands while the suit proceeds. - The injunction covers a wide range of sports markets — including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, UFC, golf, hockey, boxing, wrestling, motorsports, pickleball, chess and esports — but does not bar Kalshi from operating elsewhere in California or impose a national ban. - The tribes must provide Kalshi maps of their land boundaries by November 13; Kalshi must file a report describing its compliance measures within 21 days of the November 4 order. Why the tribes sued - The tribes originally sued in July 2025, alleging Kalshi’s sports contracts amount to unauthorized Class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Their complaint asserts Kalshi allowed users on tribal lands to trade sporting-outcome contracts without the tribes’ authorization or compliance with tribal gaming ordinances. Kalshi’s defense - Kalshi has consistently argued its event contracts are federally regulated financial derivatives under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), meaning Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction preempts conflicting state or tribal gaming rules. - The November injunction names Kalshi Inc. and KalshiEX specifically; Robinhood is also a defendant in the broader lawsuit, but the preliminary injunction does not impose the same restrictions on Robinhood entities. Appeals history and legal significance - The decision follows an appellate development earlier this year. After a district judge initially denied the tribes’ preliminary-injunction request in November 2025, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partly reversed on September 16, concluding the tribes were likely to succeed on IGRA claims. The panel found Kalshi’s sports contracts could constitute Class III gaming when entered from tribal lands and that the CEA did not bar tribes from pursuing IGRA claims. The appellate court left intact the district court’s rejection of a separate Lanham Act false-advertising claim and sent the case back to the district court to sort remaining preliminary-relief issues. - Sports and gaming attorney Daniel Wallach described the November 4 order as the first preliminary injunction obtained by tribes against Kalshi nationwide and “a major development in tribal gaming litigation.” Parallel state actions - Kalshi faces related legal trouble across the U.S.: - On November 4, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sued Kalshi, alleging the company runs an illegal gambling platform and seeking to stop sports, election and entertainment contracts and recover alleged unlawful revenue. - Utah prosecutors filed criminal charges on October 28 against Kalshi and two executives, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara (14 counts alleged). Utah also filed a civil suit seeking up to $61.2 million in allegedly unlawful trading fees. - Kalshi has argued in Utah court that its event contracts fall under a lawful-business-transaction exception because they trade on a CFTC‑designated market. - In turn, the CFTC and the U.S. government sued Utah in October, asking federal courts to block state enforcement actions that would apply gambling restrictions to CFTC‑registered event contracts. What this means The injunction narrows where Kalshi can legally offer sports markets and underscores growing legal friction between tribal and state authorities, Kalshi, and federal regulators over whether prediction-market style event contracts are gambling or federally regulated derivatives. Crypto.news reached out to Kalshi for comment on the ruling and its compliance plans but had not received a response by publication. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news