‘A rose by any other name’ – US judge rules Kalshi sports contracts amount to gambling

A US judge quoted William Shakespeare when ruling that Nevada can enforce its sports gambling laws against major prediction market operator Kalshi.

“To call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Judge Ryan Nelson said, invoking Romeo and Juliet. 

“For Kalshi to deny that its sports event contracts are sports bets under a reasonable person’s understanding is disingenuous.”

In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that gambling laws are enforceable against Kalshi.

It ruled that its sports event contracts qualify as sports betting, and not as federally regulated swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

This decision goes against a previous US Court of Appeals case which found that the CEA preempts New Jersey from enforcing state gambling laws against Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts.

The US Commodity Futures Commission has also repeately stressed that it has exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of event contracts and described the efforts of state gaming commisisons to regulate prediction markets as an attempt to nullify federal law. 

This latest Nevada ruling has therefore increased the possibility that the US Supreme Court could eventually be forced to step in to address the issue.