Kalshi has been prohibited from offering contracts related to sporting events in Nevada, following a ruling from Carson City District Court Judge Jason Woodbury who believes the operator’s contract trading is “indistinguishable” from typical sports betting.
Woodbury ruled: “The reality is I could take $100 right now and walk a couple blocks and put a $100 on the Dodgers to win tomorrow. I could also do that by depositing that money in a licensed operator’s online gaming application and do the same thing. And if it wasn’t restrained, I could also effectively do that with Kalshi with the purchase of a sporting event contract.
“No matter how you slice it, that conduct is indistinguishable. So I find based on the arguments that have been presented that it is a gaming activity that is prohibited for any non-licensee to engage in.”
The Carson City District Court Judge also gave Kalshi until May 4 to implement geofencing or geolocation measures in Nevada to prevent residents from engaging in any activity or transaction which is currently illegal under state gaming laws.
Woodbury approved a preliminary injunction request from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) after hearing over two hours of testimony from both parties in the First Judicial District Court.
Kalshi may request an extension to the May 4 deadline if geofencing measures are unable to be met, but would also be required to submit a full explanation to Woodbury as to why the extension is necessary.
Kalshi had previously argued that implementing geofencing or geolocation measures in Nevada would be “prohibitively expensive” for the operator.
At the time of writing, it was made unclear as to whether Kalshi could offer event contract trading in Nevada on contracts which are not related to sports, as the hearing “got complicated” when discussions over the matter first arose.
Recently, Global Gaming Insider took an in-depth look into how regulators are shifting their approach to tackling prediction market operators, including on the state, federal and Tribal levels.
On March 31, Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit against Kalshi, alleging the online platform violated state law by offering unlawful gambling products to consumers in Washington state.
Prediction markets platform Kalshi launched a new $1bn perfect-bracket challenge for the 2026 edition of NCAA March Madness on March 17, a US-based college basketball tournament running through April 6
