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Tribal Coalitions Join Legal Fight Against Kalshi in Maryland

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Publish Date: Jun 25, 2025

Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli

The legal battle between prediction market operator Kalshi and the state of Maryland is intensifying after a group of 27 federally recognized tribes and seven tribal associations have entered the arena.

They've done so by filing an amicus brief arguing that the prediction exchange is offering illegal sports betting wagers.

This filing comes just after a group of 65 tribal entities filed an amicus brief of their own in the case in New Jersey involving Kalshi.

In addition to the 27 individual tribes, the Indian Gaming Association, National Congress of American Indians, California Nations Indian Gaming Association, Arizona Indian Gaming Association, Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund, and the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations joined in.

Tribes Argue Kalshi Undermines Indian Gaming Rights

In the filing in Maryland, the tribes have similar arguments to those in New Jersey, which center around Kalshi's sports event contracts. They say the contracts will have a "significant impact" on their operations.

Kalshi's sports event contracts allow customers to wager money on the outcome of a sporting event, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates them. It's considered a financial product, not gambling.

“Together, the Tribal Amici have a shared, strong interest in this case because of its potential to have a significant impact on their member tribes’ sovereign rights to conduct and regulate gaming on Indian lands, as well as the federal approach to Indian gaming as a whole,” the filing says.

“Additionally, Kalshi’s sports event contracts directly impact tribal gaming revenue and the bargained-for benefits of tribal-state gaming compacts of the Tribal Amici’s member tribes.

“The revenue generated from tribal gaming is vital and provides funding for essential government services, tribal programs, and economic development needed to reach the goals of self-governance and self-sufficiency.”

Kalshi Claims Preemption and Tribes and States Push Back

The tribes go on to say that Kalshi violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which governs all tribal gaming, including sports betting.

The brief is at odds with Kalshi's claim that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts the IGRA, and further claims that the "special rule" in the act, which gives the CFTC power to stop markets involving gaming, shows that it wasn't meant to cover gaming.

“Kalshi’s sports betting operation rests entirely on its assertion that it alone has the preemptive authority to self-certify that its gaming activities do not violate the CEA, CFTC regulations, IGRA, or other federal statutes governing gaming, such as the UIGEA and the Wire Act,” the brief says.

“This is incorrect. It is inconceivable that Congress would have granted private entities (like Kalshi) the unlimited authority to offer mobile sports betting throughout the United States — including on Indian lands — without explicitly stating as much, especially in the face of existing, comprehensive statutes and regulations governing gaming on Indian lands.”

Kalshi argues that the CEA repeals IGRA by implication, but the tribes dispute that, saying that would require "clear and manifest" congressional intent, which they claim is lacking.

In response, Kalshi filed a brief opposing the tribes' participation in the case

They argue the tribes' motion is untimely, lacks a clear stake, and fails to introduce new arguments.

“The lodged brief would not be useful to the Court,” writes Kalshi attorney Neal Katyal.

“Putative amici appear to represent out-of-state tribal interests with no clear stake in whether Kalshi must comply with Maryland gaming laws during the pendency of this litigation — the question before the Court on Kalshi’s preliminary injunction motion.

“Nor do they identify ‘additional arguments’ in the lodged brief that Defendants have not already raised… Rather, they simply expand upon arguments presented in Defendants’ briefs.”

Further, the tribes cite Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who, during a 2010 Senate colloquy, mentioned and warned that sports-related event contracts were a form of gambling with no legitimate commercial purpose.

Kalshi's lawsuit aims to overturn a cease-and-desist letter issued by Maryland regulators

Kalshi has won similar injunctions in Nevada and New Jersey. The Maryland case remains active, and other states and tribal nations continue to oppose Kalshi.

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