A federal judge in California has barred Kalshi from offering sports-event contracts on the tribal lands of Blue Lake Rancheria and Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, granting the tribes a preliminary injunction on Nov. 5.
The order by U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley took effect immediately. It applies to contracts tied to a wide range of sports, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, combat sports, esports, motorsports and chess.
The tribes must give Kalshi maps defining their land boundaries by Nov. 13 so the company can geofence the areas. Attorney Daniel Wallach called it the first preliminary injunction secured by tribes against Kalshi anywhere in the United States, describing the ruling as a major development in tribal-gaming litigation.
Blue Lake Rancheria, Chicken Ranch Rancheria and, initially, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians sued Kalshi in July 2025. They alleged that the company’s sports contracts amounted to unauthorized Class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and breached tribal gaming ordinances. Picayune Rancheria withdrew from the proceedings in August.
The complaint also named Robinhood entities, although the claims against them were more limited. The court record identified claims under IGRA, tribal ordinances, RICO, tribal sovereignty and the Lanham Act against Kalshi, while only the RICO claim was brought against Robinhood.
Corley had denied the tribes’ initial request for a preliminary injunction on Nov. 10, 2025, concluding they had not shown they were likely to succeed. The district court later stayed the case while appeals in the Blue Lake and Assad matters proceeded before the Ninth Circuit.
In September, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel partially reversed that denial. It found the tribes were likely to prevail under IGRA and their gaming ordinances, and held that the Commodity Exchange Act’s exclusive jurisdiction did not extend to Kalshi’s sports-event contracts. Kalshi had argued that the contracts were federally regulated swaps whose regulation pre-empted tribal gaming law.
The Ninth Circuit characterized the contracts as Class III gaming because they tracked activities described in IGRA and its regulations. The ruling adds another court outcome to the unsettled treatment of Kalshi’s sports products. As covered in August, a Washington state-court order separately required the company to halt most wagering activity in that state.
Kalshi must update the Northern District of California on its progress toward complying with the injunction within 21 days.
