SectorWire
SearchGet the daily briefing
Menu

Federal judge bars Kalshi sports contracts on suing California tribes’ lands

Regulation1 min read

In brief

  • A federal judge barred Kalshi from offering sports contracts on the plaintiff California tribes' lands.
  • The tribes must deliver boundary maps by 13 November.
  • Kalshi then has 21 days to report on its compliance steps.
  • The order follows a September Ninth Circuit ruling in the tribes' favour.

A San Francisco federal judge has blocked Kalshi from listing sports event contracts on land belonging to the California tribes that are suing it. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, who sits in the Northern District of California, granted the tribes a preliminary injunction on Wednesday in the case Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi.

A one-page order prohibits the prediction markets operator from listing “any sports contracts” on land of the plaintiff tribes. The ban reaches contracts that “facially involve, relate to, or reference” sports including chess, golf and pickleball. Kalshi is to receive maps of the tribes' California land boundaries by Nov. 13. After that, the company has 21 days to tell the court what it did to comply.

Corley rejected the tribes' initial bid for an injunction in November 2025. At that stage she concluded the tribes were unlikely to win under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or the Lanham Act, and regarded Kalshi's yes-or-no contracts as products governed by the Commodity Exchange Act.

Request a correction

Keep reading

Regulation

Ninth Circuit backs California tribes in Kalshi and Robinhood challenge

It was reported that the Ninth Circuit backed two California tribes on key aspects of their challenge to Kalshi and Robinhood on Wednesday. The outlet also reported that a proposal to change gambling tax deductions moved nearer to a House vote.

On Wednesday, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel handed two California tribes a partial win in their suit against Kalshi and Robinhood. The panel reversed in part a lower-court decision that had denied a preliminary injunction, and it returned the tribes' injunction request to the district court. No injunction takes effect right away; the matter goes back for review of the factors still outstanding. The outcome marks Kalshi's second setback in the Ninth Circuit in under three weeks.

Continue reading