Nevada judge extends pause on Kalshi’s sports contracts as wider fight over regulation continues
A Nevada judge on Friday extended a temporary ban on Kalshi’s sports-related prediction markets, further intensifying a legal battle over whether such platforms are governed by state gambling laws or federal derivatives regulators.
Judge Jason Woodbury of the First Judicial District Court in Carson City said he would grant the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s request for a preliminary injunction that would bar Kalshi from offering certain prediction markets in the state while the regulator’s broader case proceeds. He also extended a temporary restraining order first issued on March 20 for two more weeks to finalize the wording of the injunction, Reuters reported.
Woodbury’s original order prohibited Kalshi from offering contracts tied to sports, entertainment and elections. At Friday’s hearing he told attorneys that buying a Kalshi contract on a baseball game was “indistinguishable” from placing a bet on a licensed state gaming platform, and therefore constituted gaming activity that non-licensees are not permitted to engage in, according to Reuters.
Neither Kalshi nor the Nevada Gaming Control Board responded to requests for comment.
Why this matters
State gaming regulators around the U.S. have moved to block prediction market products they view as gambling that must be regulated at the state level. Kalshi and other prediction-market operators counter that they are federally regulated “designated contract markets” offering swaps — a type of derivative — and are therefore overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not state authorities.
The CFTC, led by Chairman Rostin Behnam (note: earlier coverage referenced agency leadership), has sided with this view. The agency filed an amicus brief in an appeals court earlier this year and — together with the U.S. Department of Justice — sued Arizona, Illinois and Connecticut on Thursday, arguing that state efforts to shut down these markets infringe on the CFTC’s exclusive role as the federal regulator of swaps.
A parallel hearing in Arizona
Friday’s Nevada hearing came the same day Kalshi faced related arguments in federal court in Arizona, where the company had sought to block state regulators from restricting its products. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes previously filed an information alleging criminal charges against Kalshi. District Judge Michael Liburdi heard arguments in that matter and is considering the motion, according to the court docket.
What’s next
The Nevada preliminary injunction, if finalized, would keep sports-related Kalshi contracts off the market in the state while the larger regulatory fight plays out. The outcome of the CFTC’s legal actions and the various state cases could set important precedents for how prediction markets — and potentially other digital-asset derivatives platforms — are regulated across the U.S.
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