Ninth Circuit rules sports event contracts violate IGRA on tribal land
The Ninth Circuit ruled that sports event contracts violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi Inc. The decision, issued Wednesday, affects Kalshi's tribal-land offerings and follows the same court's recent rejection of Kalshi's bid to block Nevada gaming oversight. The Blue Lake Rancheria tribe brought the case against the CFTC-registered prediction market platform. Kalshi had argued its contracts were legal under a federal loophole.
Each new tribal carve-out splinters what Kalshi markets as a national sports product. The platform must now geofence specific reservations or face contempt, adding tribal boundaries to its growing list of legal no-go zones. Blue Lake Rancheria gives other tribal nations a ready template, not just precedent to cite.
Wisconsin's pending tribal challenge gains fresh momentum, and New Mexico tribes awaiting their own ruling now have a stronger hand. Robinhood and other platforms betting on Kalshi's expansion share the downside of its contraction. The question is how many local losses make a national product unmanageable before any Supreme Court answer arrives. A geofence cascade would fragment liquidity before a final ruling lands.
Second Ninth Circuit ruling this week to block Kalshi sports contracts on tribal land, after the court's separate injunction in the Nevada gaming oversight case just days earlier.