Utah Sues Kalshi, Seeks Court Order Blocking Sports Prediction Markets

Utah sued prediction market operator Kalshi on Oct. 20, asking a court to block sports and other event contracts in the state because it says the markets violate its gambling laws.

The civil complaint seeks restrictions on sports, election, politics, culture and “mentions” contracts, with access controlled through a court-approved geolocation provider. It names five Kalshi entities and two Susquehanna entities. The filing requests preliminary and permanent injunctions; filing the suit does not itself impose those restrictions.

Utah also seeks restitution, damages and repayment of money the defendants allegedly received from the challenged activity. The state estimates fees tied to contracts placed through Utah accounts at $30,591,600 to $61,183,200 as of Oct. 19. That range is an extrapolation, and the actual amount may differ. Kalshi listed 32,940 fully signed-up accounts with Utah addresses as of Feb. 25; the figure does not establish how many account holders were physically in the state.

In a separate case, an Aug. 4 federal ruling found that commodities law did not bar Utah from applying its gambling laws to Kalshi’s sports contracts. Kalshi appealed, but on Sept. 8 the appeals court rejected its bid for interim relief.