Kalshi Sports Contracts Barred on California Tribal Lands

A federal judge in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction preventing prediction market operator Kalshi from offering sports event contracts on the lands of specific California tribes. This decision follows a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that these contracts likely constitute Class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

What Happened

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California granted a motion for a preliminary injunction in the case of Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, according to SBC Americas. The order legally prohibits Kalshi from offering “any sports contracts” on the Indian lands of the plaintiff tribes, specifically Blue Lake Rancheria and Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians. This ruling applies to contracts that “facially involve, relate to, or reference” a range of sports, including baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, hockey, soccer, and others, as reported by Ingame.com.

The injunction marks a reversal of Judge Corley’s prior decision in November 2025, where she initially denied the tribes’ request, finding them unlikely to succeed under IGRA or the Lanham Act. At that time, Corley treated Kalshi’s contracts as products regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this analysis in September, ruling that the contracts are likely Class III gaming under IGRA and are “located on Indian lands” when purchased from tribal territory, according to Law360. The Ninth Circuit panel, in UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, then remanded the case back to Corley to assess irreparable harm, the balance of equities, and the public interest.

Key Details

• U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted a preliminary injunction against Kalshi on Wednesday, November 6, 2026, in favor of Blue Lake Rancheria and Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, as stated by SBC Americas.
• The injunction prohibits Kalshi from offering contracts related to various sports on the plaintiff tribes’ Indian lands, according to Ingame.com.
• The plaintiff tribes must submit maps of their California land boundaries to Kalshi by November 13, after which Kalshi has 21 days to report its compliance steps to the court, as reported by The Defiant.
• This order follows a September Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Kalshi’s sports contracts likely qualify as Class III gaming under IGRA when users engage with them from tribal land, as noted in the court document.

Why It Matters

This preliminary injunction represents the first such order secured by any tribe against Kalshi, establishing a precedent for tribal regulation of prediction markets on their lands. The Ninth Circuit’s determination that Kalshi’s sports contracts are Class III gaming under IGRA contradicts Kalshi’s argument that these contracts are regulated solely under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). This legal interpretation has implications for regulatory oversight, affirming tribal sovereignty in gaming regulation where the contracts are initiated from Indian lands.

The decision in California highlights a growing federal-state-tribal conflict regarding the regulatory classification of sports event contracts. While the California tribes successfully demonstrated irreparable harm to secure their injunction, a similar request from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin was denied in May, with that court finding no evidence of irreparable harm despite allowing core IGRA claims to proceed. This divergence underscores the varying legal interpretations and evidence thresholds required across jurisdictions. The broader national dispute, involving contrasting rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the Third Circuit on CEA preemption, is now poised for potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court, which could provide nationwide clarity on the regulatory framework for these contracts, as reported by SBC Americas.