- New jersey filed a petition for the Supreme Court of the United States to hear the prediction market-sports event contract argument.
- The petition for writ of certiorari questions if states can regulate “sports bets that occur within their jurisdictions if those bets are offered on markets registered with the CFTC.”
- It states that a certiorari is “urgently needed” since Kalshi is aiming to federalize sports betting at the expense of state gaming laws.
WASHINGTON – Wednesday marked a massive development in the prediction market-sports event contract saga. The U.S. Supreme Court has officially been asked to review the sports prediction market case where Kalshi and states disagree on regulation.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed the petition for writ of certiorari, creating massive consequences whichever way SCOTUS rules. According to the document, New Jersey wants SCOTUS to decide “Whether the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act preempted States from regulating sports bets that occur within their jurisdictions if those bets are offered on markets registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.”
Kalshi and other prediction market exchanges are federally-regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing Kalshi to offer their sports event contracts that resemble legal sports betting across the country. At least that’s how Kalshi sees it, as the predictions operator has battled with 20 different states over the point of federal regulation exclusively governing them and not state gambling laws that deem them illegal.
Will SCOTUS Side With Kalshi Or The States?
Friday’s Ninth Circuit ruling decided that Nevada can enforce their state gambling laws against Kalshi. Now, SCOTUS will weigh in on a similar challenge regarding the legality of sports event contracts at Kalshi.
The petition for writ of certiorari aims to deliver the killing blow to Kalshi’s “multi-billion-dollar sports betting industry.” In a section titled ‘Reasons For Granting The Petition’, New Jersey makes it clear to SCOTUS why their action is urgently needed.
“This petition presents an ideal vehicle for resolving the important question whether States are prevented from regulating sports gambling merely because that gambling happens on a CFTC-registered market. This issue has led to an explosion of litigation in the lower courts and spawned immediate disagreement on this major question, including a direct, acknowledged, and irreconcilable split between the Third and Ninth Circuits. The issue is one of tremendous practical and legal consequence…”
Any further developments will be updated here.
