New Mexico tribes finish bid to block Kalshi on tribal lands

On Sept. 4, the Mescalero Apache Tribe and the Pojoaque, Sandia and Isleta pueblos finished their federal-court arguments seeking to stop Kalshi from operating within tribal boundaries in New Mexico. They asked U.S. District Judge Margaret Strickland for a preliminary injunction, saying the prediction-market platform is running sports wagering that conflicts with tribal gaming compacts and federal law.

As covered when the tribes filed in May, they argue that Kalshi gives anyone 18 and older access to sports gambling in New Mexico, even though existing state compacts and federal rules allow in-person sports bets at tribally owned casinos only to people 21 and older. The plaintiffs say that mismatch is causing irreparable harm to tribal governments that depend on gambling revenue for schools and other services.

Their final filing, a 19-page brief submitted on Friday, said the tribes meet the standard for emergency relief and asked the court to order Kalshi to stop operating on tribal lands at once. The brief also accused Kalshi of leaning on what the plaintiffs called a string of misstatements about the case and the law.

Kalshi countered that the federal Commodity Exchange Act overrides both the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and tribal gaming compacts. Its lawyers also said oversight of the platform belongs solely to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a late-August response, Kalshi said a ban on its app on tribal lands would cause significant operational and commercial harm.

The tribes also pointed to the Ninth Circuit’s Aug. 28 ruling in the Nevada case KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad. The panel said Kalshi’s sports event contracts were not swaps under the federal commodities law and held that the law likely does not preempt Nevada’s gaming regulations as applied to those contracts.

That Nevada appeal also drew support from a coalition of 24 federally recognized tribes, which urged the court to let Nevada officials regulate Kalshi. Federal court records do not say when Judge Strickland will rule in the New Mexico case.