New Mexico Tribes File Federal Lawsuit Against Kalshi
Mike Goodpaster Published 18/05/2026
Four New Mexico native tribal organizations have filed a federal lawsuit against Kalshi, accusing the prediction market site of offering illegal sports betting. The suit alleges that Kalshi, by offering access to sports event contracts on tribal land, is breaking federal and tribal laws.
The four tribes - the Pojoaque Pueblo, Sandia Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation - all are operators of prominent land-based casinos in New Mexico. Their complaint alleges that Kalshi’s online gaming activities within the borders of tribal land run afoul of tribal ordinances, the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, and tribal gambling compacts with New Mexico.
The state's tribes operate all legal sports betting in New Mexico
The state's tribes have exclusive rights to operate sports betting in New Mexico. All of the state's legal sports betting is taking place exclusively through in-person betting at tribal casinos. The state has not legalized any form of commercial or online mobile sports betting.
“Tribes fought hard to protect their inherent sovereign right to operate and regulate casinos on tribal lands,” Mescalero Apache Vice President Duane Duffy said in a statement, according to reporting by the Santa Fe New Mexican. “We cannot sit by idly as the laws that enshrine this right are ignored.”
The suit is asking the court to order Kalshi to stop offering internet-based sports betting on tribal land. It is also requesting a requirement that Kalshi pay civil penalties to the four tribes. These penalties would be for “willful and intentional” violations of Indigenous gambling ordinances.
The complaint from the tribes notes that no tribal organization has granted Kalshi a license to offer any form of online or mobile sports wagering on tribal land. The suit requests that Kalshi implement geofencing software to prevent access to the site on any of the tribal lands.
Native Tribes are accusing Kalshi of encroaching on their territory
New Mexico's tribal leaders are seeking to use their tribal laws to put a halt to Kalshi offering online sports event contracts on their sovereign land.
Third-party operations offering mobile sports betting are not permissible on tribal lands. That's according to the gambling laws of New Mexico's tribes. The gambling ordinances of the Pojoaque Pueblo and Mescalero Apache Tribes call for civil penalties for such violations. These can add up to $5,000 per day for violating tribal gaming ordinances.
“The use of prediction markets for gambling purposes diverts essential revenue away from our governments, provides an end-run around regulation of gaming on our lands, and allows gaming by underage people,” Sandia Pueblo Governor Stuart Paisano said in a statement.
An attorney representing the tribes provided documentation to The Santa Fe New Mexican. The documents state that their compacts with the state require them to share a portion of their gambling revenue with the state. This sharing is in exchange for “exclusivity.”
“These illegal markets encroach upon our exclusivity and, as a result, upset the careful balance of gaming in New Mexico that has worked to benefit both tribal governments and the State for nearly three decades,” the document states.
New Mexico's tribal leaders are the latest to take action against prediction market sites.
Several tribes are ready to do battle in court to keep prediction market sites from infringing on their territory. Now, New Mexico can be an addition to that list.
Wisconsin's Ho-Chunk Nation recently won the right to move ahead with its federal court lawsuit against Kalshi. California tribal leaders are also taking legal action against what they view as prediction market interlopers.