A federal judge in New York denied Kalshi’s request to block enforcement of state gambling laws against its sports event contracts while litigation continues. Judge Analisa Torres said New York’s gambling laws apply, and Kalshi has appealed the ruling to the Second Circuit.
The decision leaves New York able to pursue enforcement against Kalshi while the company’s appeal proceeds.
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A federal judge in Tennessee granted Kalshi a preliminary injunction on 19 February 2026, blocking state regulators from enforcing gaming laws against its sports event contracts while the case proceeds. Judge Aleta Trauger found the contracts likely qualify as swaps under federal commodities law; Tennessee had ordered Kalshi to stop offering them to residents.
A federal judge allowed Maine’s Wabanaki Nations to intervene as defendants in Churchill Downs’ challenge to the state’s tribal online gaming law. Churchill Downs argues that granting the tribes exclusive online gaming rights violates state and federal equal-protection clauses; the tribes will be able to defend the law in court.
A federal judge in Michigan denied Polymarket's request for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked state regulators from applying gambling laws to its operations. Judge Paul L. Maloney rejected the company's argument that its sports event contracts fall under exclusive federal oversight as financial derivatives; Polymarket had maintained that the CFTC had jurisdiction.
A federal judge rejected Kalshi’s attempt to stop Utah from applying its anti-gambling laws to the company’s sports event contracts, according to the report.
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts did not meet the statutory definition of swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act. The court also found that the Act did not pre-empt Ohio or Tennessee gambling laws, allowing those states’ regulators to pursue enforcement against Kalshi and other prediction-market operators.