Four N.M. tribes sue Kalshi, say sports markets violate tribal gaming compacts
The Pojoaque, Sandia and Isleta pueblos and the Mescalero Apache Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Kalshi on Tuesday in New Mexico, alleging the CFTC-registered prediction-market platform enables illegal sports betting on tribal lands and violates their exclusive gaming rights under state-tribal compacts. The tribes seek civil penalties and a court order blocking Kalshi's sports-related markets within their jurisdictions. Kalshi, which began offering sports event contracts after a federal court ruling in its favor against the CFTC, defends its products as legal financial instruments rather than gambling.
Kalshi must now defend against tribal sovereignty challenges in both New Mexico and Wisconsin while the CFTC simultaneously fights Ohio's jurisdictional claims on its behalf. Any adverse ruling on IGRA-protected tribal land exposure could force the platform to geoblock near reservation boundaries nationwide, just ahead of its planned fall sports expansion.
Four tribal nations in New Mexico join the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin and Kentucky users in mounting parallel federal challenges to Kalshi's sports event contracts, with the CFTC now also defending the platform's federally regulated status against state-level pushback.