Connecticut judge limits Kalshi's use of CFTC league deals as evidence
A Connecticut federal judge ruled against Kalshi's bid to introduce evidence of CFTC partnerships with Major League Baseball and other sports leagues in its legal defense. The ruling limits Kalshi's ability to cite the regulator's own league deals to bolster claims of federal preemption over state gambling laws. The platform faces mounting state-level challenges to its federal registration shield.
Kalshi loses a key evidentiary weapon in Connecticut just as courts in New York and Michigan gut its preemption theory from other angles. Without the CFTC's league partnerships on the table, Kalshi cannot point to federal regulatory blessing of sports contracts to fend off state gambling charges.
The Torres ruling compounds the damage by confirming that CFTC registration does not bar parallel state enforcement. For Polymarket, the identical exposure means both platforms now face state-by-state litigation with no clean federal exit. The Second Circuit appeal is the lone remaining forum where either can argue for a uniform national shield.
The Connecticut ruling and Michigan standoff mark the second and third major court actions this month challenging Kalshi's CFTC preemption defense, after Judge Torres denied its New York injunction and the CFTC used emergency powers to block a Michigan court order against Kalshi.