Kalshi is forging ahead with more sports betting markets despite getting dealt a blow in a court ruling in Maryland earlier this month.

The prediction-markets exchange on Monday informed the federal regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of its newly launched event contracts, which allow users to trade on how many touchdowns a given player will score in a game, point spreads, and the overall total score, the company confirmed exclusively to Front Office Sports. Until now, Kalshi has had relatively straightforward sports offerings like futures (such as awards and championship odds) and single-game moneylines (meaning outright winners). 

Kalshi spokesperson Sara Slane told FOS the new offerings are limited to football, for now.

“This is a natural progression in our offerings, and clearly there’s huge consumer demand,” Slane said.

“Bringing these markets under CFTC oversight gives consumers the same level of protections as Wall Street traders and institutions,” Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in a statement.

The sports betting industry has been paying great attention to Kalshi’s legal situation in recent months. Traditional sportsbooks, like FanDuel and DraftKings, are regulated state by state. Kalshi, however, is federally regulated by the CFTC and has therefore been operating in states where sports betting is technically illegal, like Texas and California. 

Kalshi has argued in court that it differs from standard sportsbooks because, on its exchange, bettors are wagering against one another as opposed to the house.

In a federal court ruling in Maryland this month, U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson argued he did not see the distinction between Kalshi and typical sports gambling. “[T]he courts and Congress have long recognized states’ authority to regulate gambling conducted within their borders,” the judge argued.  

Nevertheless, Kalshi immediately appealed for an injunction and will remain operating in the state at least until the 4th Circuit rules on it. At least five other states have sued Kalshi, which had been on a winning streak in court until the Maryland decision. Plus, last month the company was sued in California federal court by three Native American tribes.

Kalshi has grown in part through partnerships with trading giant Robinhood, and last month touted that more than $2 billion in sports-event contracts have been traded on its exchange this year. The company raised $185 million in funding in a round led by crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigm in June.

The company appears to have significant federal political support. Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz is President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next chair of the CFTC, but his nomination has been held up in recent weeks. Donald Trump Jr. is a strategic advisor for Kalshi.

Bill Chisholm officially took over the Celtics on Tuesday after the sale of the team at an initial $6.1 billion valuation formally closed, and as part of the announcement, four previously unknown investors in the new ownership group were revealed.

The closing of the transaction was a formality after the NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the agreement last week. 

Wyc Grousbeck will immediately cede the title of lead governor to Chisholm, despite his original plan to remain in control through the 2027–28 season. Grousbeck will become an alternate governor, alongside Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal—the world’s second-largest steel producer—who is contributing $1 billion to the transaction. Grousbeck will also be CEO, “running day to day operations with Chisholm and the existing basketball and business management teams” for an unspecified amount of time, according to a statement announcing the completion of the deal.

In the statement, four previously unknown investors in the Celtics were revealed: Andrew Bialecki, cofounder and CEO of marketing automation firm Klaviyo; Dom Ferrante, managing partner of The Ferrante Group, a Florida-based family office; Mario Ho, the son of the late casino tycoon Stanley Ho who cofounded and serves as co-CEO for esports company NIP Group; and Ian Loring, senior managing director of Texas-based private-equity firm Haveli Investments.

It had already been publicly known that the following people and companies would be part of the new ownership group: Robert Hale Jr., who was an existing minority owner of the Celtics; Bruce A. Beal Jr., president of Related Companies; and private-equity firm Sixth Street.

Notably absent from the list of people involved in the new ownership group is former minority owner Steve Pagliuca, who separately tried to buy the Celtics and expressed dismay with the deal to sell the Celtics to Chisholm in March via a fiery letter.

Pagliuca, Grousbeck’s longtime partner in owning the team and the former co-chairman of Bain Capital, issued a statement Tuesday voicing support for the new group. Pagliuca is now involved in a messy situation as he tries to buy the WNBA’s Sun and move them to Boston.

Pagliuca also noted he will retain an “investment interest” in the Celtics for the next three years; the deal is structured as a multi-part transaction under which existing minority owners have the ability to retain their positions until 2028. A source previously told Front Office Sports that those minority owners will get to sell their stakes for up to 20% more than the original deal price, in accordance with a revenue-based formula set by the league. When all is said and done, that will bring the final blended value of the deal close to $7.3 billion.

Chisholm, who before buying the Celtics was a little-known PE executive for Symphony Technology Group, inherits a much different-looking team from the roster when he agreed to the deal. Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday, starters for the Celtics squad who won the 2024 NBA championship, have been shuffled out of Boston this summer as the franchise cuts salary in the wake of Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear sustained during the playoffs.

Chisholm made the purchase in his personal capacity, not through Symphony Technology Group.

Fenway Sports Group says it’s continuing to assess prospective investors interested in the Pittsburgh Penguins after a new report that the owners of minor league hockey team the Florida Everblades have “emerged as a serious contender” to buy the NHL team.

FSG has been exploring options for the Penguins for months, and in June told Front Office Sports it was specifically exploring the sale of a minority stake in the team, with a focus on “identifying a small, passive partner.” 

On Tuesday, however, FSG issued a new statement to FOS that no longer explicitly says the group is seeking a minority partner.

“Fenway Sports Group continues to evaluate potential equity partners to support the long-term growth of the Pittsburgh Penguins,” the statement says. “While the process remains active, there is nothing to confirm or discuss at this time.”

The new statement comes after multiple apparent suitors with an interest in buying the team outright have been reported on over the summer. First, it was reported that the Penguins’ former owners—team legend Mario Lemieux and American businessmen Ron Burkle and David Morehouse—were interested. 

On Monday, Sportsnet reported that the Chicago-based Hoffmann family, who owns the ECHL’s Everblades, is a “serious contender.” The Everblades ownership group is led by David Hoffmann, founder and chairman of the Hoffmann Family of Companies, who bought that team from former Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos in 2019. His son Geoff Hoffmann, who is co-CEO of the family business, is expected to be involved in the potential purchase, according to Sportsnet.

Reports have said a deal for the Penguins could be valued at around $1.75 billion.

FSG, which also owns MLB’s Red Sox and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC, acquired the Penguins in late 2021 for $900 million, then a league record. That record has since been broken, and currently the largest-ever NHL team sale was last year’s deal for the Tampa Bay Lightning at a $1.8 billion valuation.

The Hoffmann family portfolio is not solely sports-focused, although it does own some assets in the sector. The family owns multiple golf clubs, including the Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Naples, Fla. It also owns Marco Island Water Sports in Naples, which offers experiences like WaveRunner tours and jet ski rentals. It also owns Hertz Arena, where the Everblades play.

Representatives for the Everblades and the Hoffmann Family of Companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Editors’ note: RedBird Capital Partners owns a stake in Fenway Sports Group. RedBird IMI, in which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the primary investor in Front Office Sports.