Kalshi barred from sports contracts on two California tribal lands

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley issued the order on November 4 in a case brought by Blue Lake Rancheria and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians. The tribes must provide Kalshi with maps showing their land boundaries by November 13. Kalshi must report its compliance steps within 21 days of the order.

The injunction covers contracts tied to a wide range of sporting events, including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, hockey, boxing, wrestling, motorsports, pickleball, chess, esports and Ultimate Fighting Championship events. It applies only to the designated tribal lands; it is not a statewide or nationwide ban. Robinhood is also a defendant in the underlying case, but the order does not expressly impose the same restrictions on its entities.

The tribes sued in July 2025, alleging that Kalshi allowed users on tribal lands to trade contracts based on sports outcomes without authorization, in violation of tribal gaming laws and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Kalshi says its event contracts are federally regulated financial derivatives under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority takes precedence over conflicting gaming restrictions. Kalshi had not responded to a request for comment by press time.

The order followed a September 16 ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed part of Corley’s earlier denial of an injunction. The appeals panel found the tribes likely to succeed on their IGRA claims, concluding that the contracts constituted Class III gaming when entered into from tribal lands and that the CEA did not prevent the claims. It upheld the rejection of a separate false-advertising claim under the Lanham Act. The case then returned to the district court to consider the remaining requirements for preliminary relief. Attorney Daniel Wallach called the injunction the first obtained by tribes against Kalshi nationwide and “a major development in tribal gaming litigation.”

Kalshi also faces separate cases in Arkansas and Utah. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed suit on November 4, alleging the company operated an illegal gambling platform and seeking to stop the activity and recover revenue authorities say it obtained unlawfully. In Utah, prosecutors filed 14 charges on October 28 against Kalshi and executives Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. A separate civil case seeks as much as $61.2 million in allegedly unlawful trading fees. Wallach said Kalshi argued in a Utah filing that contracts traded on a CFTC-designated market qualify for a state-law exception for lawful business transactions. In October, the CFTC and the U.S. government sued Utah over enforcement against federally regulated prediction markets.