Gaming regulators IAGR and NAGRA back Supreme Court review of Kalshi sports contracts
The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) and the North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) asked the U.S. Supreme Court last week to hear New Jersey's case against Kalshi. In a joint amicus brief filed Oct. 2 in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, the groups argue that the Commodity Exchange Act does not let a sports event contract proceed. The filing brings international and North American gaming regulatory bodies into the legal fight over whether Kalshi's sports event contracts fall outside state gambling oversight.
Gaming regulators rarely intervene in federal financial cases; their entry signals that state gambling authorities see CFTC-registered event contracts as an existential threat to their jurisdiction. For Kalshi, this adds a powerful amicus voice opposing its preemption argument in a case it must win to keep sports markets national.
The brief frames sports event contracts as gambling that evades consumer protections gaming regulators enforce, language state attorneys general can recycle. If the Supreme Court grants review, IAGR and NAGRA will likely file again at merits stage, deepening the pool of voices arguing that CFTC registration does not displace state gambling law. That pressure raises the stakes for Kalshi's core legal theory.
Joins New Jersey, Robinhood, and Crypto.com in asking the Supreme Court to resolve the circuit split over whether CFTC registration shields sports event contracts from state gambling law.