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California Tribes Request Injunction Against Kalshi

Sports Writer

Publish Date: Sep 05, 2025

Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli

Key Points

Three California tribes cite Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in motion to halt prediction markets
Kalshi sells contracts that operate much like sports betting wagers
Prediction markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

A preliminary injunction against Kalshi to prevent them from offering sports wagering products known as prediction marketscon tribal lands has been requested by three California tribes.

Blue Lake Rancheria, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, and Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians serve as co-plaintiffs in a motion to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, filed September 4.

california office of the attorney general

The motion asks the court to bar Kalshi and Robinhood from offering sports betting contracts on native tribal lands. The motion urges the federal court to require those companies to use a geofence to keep that activity from inside tribal lands.

"Kalshi is intentionally entering the field of class III gaming," the motion reads. "[W]hich subjects Kalshi to regulation under IGRA when its app-based gaming reaches consumers on Plaintiff Tribes’ 'Indian lands..."

IRGA cited by three California tribes in motion to federal court

This is the first instance of tribes appealing to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) when asking the federal government to step in to halt the expansion of so-called "sports prediction markets." The 1988 law is the authoritative guide on Indian gaming.

If the feds are going to rein in prediction markets like Kalshi, it will come at the same time that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is doing all it can to clear the way for those companies to set up shop. The Trump administration has made it clear that they want Robinhood and Kalshi to be allowed to operate in California and elsewhere.

Kalshi may need to pivot to challenge motion

Twice in the past, Kalshi has succeeded in court cases at the state level. That's because Kalshi appealed to the fact that federal law pre-empts state regulations on prediction markets.

This time, in the case brought by the three tribes in a California federal district court, Kalshi will be challenged from the framework of the IGRA.

A hearing on the motion is slated for October 9 in a federal court in San Francisco.

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