The NFL urged the U.S. Supreme Court to let states regulate Kalshi sports contracts, citing $1.8 billion in prediction market trades tied to its games on one Sunday.
Key Points:
- The NFL filed a brief backing New Jersey gaming regulators in their Supreme Court petition against Kalshi.
- The league said $1.8 billion of the $3.3 billion traded on prediction markets on the season's first Sunday was tied to its games.
- Kalshi has until Nov. 9 to respond, and the justices have not yet agreed to hear the case.
NFL Supreme Court Brief
The league filed its amicus brief Thursday in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, a petition from New Jersey gaming regulators who lost to Kalshi at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April. It put total prediction market trading on the season's first Sunday at $3.3 billion.
The NFL argued that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has declined to adopt the league's list of prohibited wagers, many of which a single player, coach or official could manipulate.
The agency also lets 18-year-olds trade, while states generally require bettors to be 21. The brief said the CFTC has only 543 employees to cover the whole country.
The league asked the justices to act "before another NFL season goes by."
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Kalshi, CFTC Response
Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said the company had tried repeatedly to work with the league on market integrity "with no response." She said all leagues but the NFL have been willing to share data. The CFTC countered that it had engaged with the NFL on its rulemaking agenda "since day 1," and called the league's decision not to sign a cooperation arrangement unfortunate.
Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach wrote on X that the brief "meaningfully increases the chances of a cert grant," the step that would put the case before the justices. Gary Gensler, who led the CFTC when the Dodd-Frank Act took effect, and former Sen. Chris Dodd, who sponsored it, told the court that Congress never meant to shift sports betting from states to the agency.
Prediction Markets Court Split
The case turns on whether sports event contracts count as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, which would place them under the CFTC alone and beyond state gambling law.
The 3rd Circuit sided with Kalshi on Apr. 6, but the 9th Circuit ruled against the company on Aug. 28, and the 6th Circuit did the same on Sept. 25. New Jersey has the backing of 39 states and the District of Columbia, while Kalshi has until Nov. 9 to respond.
Long before Thursday's filing, the NFL urged Kalshi and Polymarket in March to stop listing contracts tied to individual plays and player injuries. It sent the CFTC a list of contract types it wants banned in May, including bets on missed kicks and officiating calls, then told the agency in July that the proposed rules still fell "significantly short."
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