Judge Temporarily Blocks Kalshi’s Sports Markets in Nevada

Kalshi has been ordered to stop offering sports event contracts in Nevada for at least the next two weeks, a judge ruled Friday.

The decision—first reported by gaming attorney Dan Wallach—means Kalshi must eliminate those markets in Nevada until at least April 3, when there is a hearing on the state’s request for a preliminary injunction. If that is granted, Kalshi would be barred from offering sports, elections, and entertainment event contracts while the lawsuit remains pending. Under the ruling, Kalshi’s other markets, which include event contracts on crypto and gold prices, are not prohibited.

“Kalshi has repeatedly stated that its operations are legal in 50 states, which is clearly not true,” Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman Mike Dreitzer said in a statement. “Prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public.”

A representative for Kalshi declined to comment.

The Nevada regulator previously obtained a similar ruling in a lawsuit against Polymarket.

In Friday’s statement, the regulator said it has now “successfully restricted the operation of all unlicensed prediction markets that had been known to be operating in Nevada.”

Friday’s ruling relates to a state court lawsuit filed against Kalshi by Nevada and its gaming regulator in February, which came after Kalshi previously filed a separate suit against Nevada in federal court. Following a favorable ruling in the federal case last April, the judge reversed course in November with an order clearing the way for the gaming regulator to enforce a cease-and-desist order over Kalshi’s sports event contracts.

Kalshi appealed that ruling, and the case is now at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nevada, once the undisputed sports betting capital of the U.S., has been in an all-out war with prediction markets as it works to maintain its prominence amid growing competition. The state saw lower volumes in traditional sports betting for the Super Bowl last month than at least the nine previous years.

The ruling is the latest in an up-and-down week for Kalshi. The platform has seen significant trading volume thanks to March Madness, has been promoting a $1 billion perfect bracket challenge, and is in talks with Fox Corp. about a significant partnership.

But in addition to Friday’s ruling in Nevada, Kalshi was hit with criminal charges in Arizona—the first state to charge a prediction-market platform with crimes—and its main rival, Polymarket, reached a big-money, multiyear deal to be MLB’s exclusive prediction-market partner.

While state-level regulators continue to attack prediction-market platforms, companies like Kalshi and Polymarket have backing from the federal government. The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission—the federal regulator that oversees prediction markets—has voiced support for the industry and recently issued guidance in advance of an anticipated rules proposal that would clarify which specific market types are problematic.