Court to rule on Nevada Resort Association request in sports betting case
The U.S. District Court judge presiding over lawsuits involving whether federal prediction markets are allowable under the state’s sports gambling laws will have to decide whether the Nevada Resort Association can intervene in the case.
Court documents show the Nevada attorney general’s office welcomes the NRA to intervene in the case, while New York-based KalshiEx LLC, a prediction market offering sports contracts nationwide, is opposed to the NRA’s intervention.
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Gordon has given the NRA until Wednesday to respond to Kalshi’s petition to reject the NRA’s participation.
The NRA believes it has a vested interest in the case because in 2024 Nevada’s legal sports-betting industry took $7.8 billion in sports bets and the NRA represents 70 casino resorts statewide. The organization predicted “seismic” changes in Nevada sports betting if Kalshi and other prediction markets are allowed to offer futures contracts on sporting events.
“Kalshi has repeatedly advertised itself on social media as offering ‘sports betting,’ an earlier NRA court filing says. “Sample tags include: ‘The First Nationwide Legal Sports Betting Platform;’ ‘Betting on Kalshi, the first app for legal sports betting in all 50 states;’ and ‘Sports Betting Legal in all 50 States on Kalshi.’”
The Nevada Gaming Control Board contends that Kalshi must have a state gaming license to offer the contracts it posts on its website. Kalshi counters that it is regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which it says has exclusive jurisdiction over futures trading and that federal oversight of the market supersedes state gaming regulation.
In a related development, Arizona became the seventh state to issue a cease-and-desist order to Kalshi for operating within the state in violation of state gaming laws.
“The department recognizes Kalshi’s attempt to legitimize its conduct by labeling it as an ‘innovation’ regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” Douglas Jensen, chief enforcement officer for the Arizona Department of Gaming, said in the letter to Kalshi.
“In fact, there is no meaningful difference between buying one of your offered contracts and placing a bet with any other sportsbook,” he said. “And, Kalshi is avoiding regulatory requirements in Arizona to include licensing and background investigations, the prohibition on wagers by persons under 21 years of age, and requirements relating to integrity monitoring and problem gambling.”
Arizona sent similar cease-and-desist letters to two other futures market operators, Robinhood and crypto.com. It was the seventh state to offer backlash to Kalshi with Nevada the first to write the company on March 4. The company countered with a lawsuit against the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Since that initial dispute, the states of New Jersey, Maryland, Montana, Ohio and Illinois have made similar cease-and-desist efforts against Kalshi.
Courts in Nevada and New Jersey have imposed temporary injunctions prohibiting their states’ gaming regulators from taking legal action against Kalshi.
Gordon has said he wants to move quickly on the matter.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
