Mayer Brown Partner Nicole Saharsky issued a letter to Ninth Circuit Clerk of Court Molly Dwyer to rebuff Kalshi’s attempt to “delay” its adherence to a previous ruling which forbade the operator from filing enforcement action against Nevada regulators.
After the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) confirmed it would look to revise certain language in the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), Kalshi argued the review should warrant approval of its petition for a rehearing.
In response, Saharsky said: “Fundamentally, Kalshi’s argument is just another attempt at delay, so that Kalshi can continue its unlawful operations for as long as possible.
“The CFTC’s intent is nothing new. This Court was well aware that the CFTC planned to revise Section 40.11 when it issued its decision.”
Previously, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Kalshi in the operator’s efforts to file an injunction against Nevada regulators and determined the CEA is unlikely to pre-empt regulations enforced by the state Gaming Commission as applied to sports event contracts.
Kalshi attempted to argue that only the CFTC maintains regulatory authority over its sports event contracts, rather than falling under requirements enforced by state bodies.
“Yet the vast majority of courts have rejected Kalshi’s arguments,” Saharsky continued, “This weight of authority confirms that the Court’s decision is correct and that there is no reason to wait to deny Kalshi’s petition.”
At the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) Chairman Mike Dreitzer noted the importance of finding outside counsel to help regulators ban sports event contracts, believing the “record speaks for itself.”
“Our licensees make the correct choice to be part of a regulated gaming community because they understand the importance of that. It’s not a matter of protecting, they make that choice. You can’t compete with entities that are committing crimes,” Dreitzer claimed.
Dreitzer also stated “you can’t conflate” sports betting and prediction markets, believing “this is hurting people every single day.”
Kalshi partnered with CBS News on October 1 to integrate prediction market data into the broadcast network's coverage of the 2026 US Midterm Elections this November
