The league filed an amicus brief on 8 October in Flaherty v. KalshiEX (No. 26-299). The case is New Jersey’s petition to overturn the Third Circuit’s 2-1 ruling of 6 April, which held that Kalshi’s sports contracts are swaps within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), so state gambling law is pre-empted. The NFL filed on its own, with no other league joining. Its legal team includes former US Attorney General William Barr.

“It is important that this Court grant certiorari now to provide clarity before another NFL season goes by,” the league wrote in its brief.

Integrity and age limits

Much of the brief focuses on integrity. The NFL said neither the CFTC nor the exchanges had adopted its list of prohibited markets, which covers kicker misses, injuries, officiating calls, play types that can be known in advance and broadcast mentions. It also said they had refused a minimum age of 21. Kalshi allows customers aged 18 and over.

The league contrasted the CFTC’s 543 employees nationwide with gaming regulators in Nevada and Pennsylvania, which it said each employ close to 400 people. It said that on the first Sunday of the 2026 season, $1.8bn of $3.3bn in total prediction-market volume was tied to NFL games.

“Billions of dollars will be bet on NFL games through prediction markets each season, and any delay from the Court will result in increasing consumer harm and risk to game integrity,” the brief said. It also argued that reading “swap” as broadly as the Third Circuit did raises Commerce Clause and major-questions problems, because regulating gambling has long been a state police power.

Kalshi and the CFTC push back

Kalshi said the league had not engaged with it. “We have consistently tried to engage proactively and constructively with the NFL to collaborate on market integrity with no response,” spokesperson Elisabeth Diana told CNBC. The CFTC’s public affairs director, Brooke Nethercott, told ESPN it was “unfortunate the NFL declined to sign an MOU” with the agency. The industry’s Coalition for Prediction Markets said national financial markets require a national regulator.

The NFL’s position sets it apart from some other leagues. The NHL has commercial deals with both Kalshi and Polymarket, and MLS and UFC have partnered with Polymarket. The NFL, NBA and PGA Tour have no prediction-market partnerships.

A crowded docket

The league is one of a growing number of amici backing New Jersey. A coalition of 38 states plus Ohio and the District of Columbia filed on 7 October. On 8 October, a group of 145 tribes and tribal organisations, including the Indian Gaming Association and the National Congress of American Indians, filed a brief arguing that Kalshi’s sports contracts violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Briefs have also come from former CFTC chair Gary Gensler, former senator Chris Dodd, the International Association of Gaming Regulators and, late on 8 October, the American Gaming Association.

The split within Indian Country is widening. The same week, four tribes (the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Greenville Rancheria, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation and Alturas Indian Rancheria) launched branded prediction apps that run on Kalshi’s exchange.

New Jersey’s petition comes after a run of appellate defeats for Kalshi elsewhere. The Ninth Circuit ruled against it in Nevada on 28 August and in a tribal case on 16 September. The Sixth Circuit ruled on 25 September that the contracts do not meet the statutory definition of a swap. Those rulings came in preliminary-injunction proceedings.

Kalshi’s response to the petition is due on 9 November after an extension. The court is not expected to decide whether to take the case before December at the earliest. If it does, a ruling this term would settle whether sports event contracts sit with the CFTC or the states, which is the question at the centre of more than 30 pending lawsuits.

The amicus brief, filed on 7 October by Ohio on behalf of itself, 38 other states and Washington DC, backs New Jersey’s petition in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, No. 26-299, according to the Supreme Court docket. New Jersey filed its petition for a writ of certiorari on 2 September, asking the justices to overturn the Third Circuit’s April ruling that its gambling laws are preempted by federal commodities law when applied to Kalshi’s sports contracts.

A crowded docket

The states are not alone. The Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians, whose 1980s litigation helped shape the modern framework for tribal gaming, filed its own brief on 6 October. Law360 reported that the tribe told the court one of its officials had placed a $25 NFL wager through Kalshi on its reservation, where sports betting is prohibited.

The International Association of Gaming Regulators and the North American Gaming Regulators Association filed jointly on 2 October, following the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States on 22 September. A further brief came on 7 October from Stop Predatory Gambling, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and Texans Against Gambling. Trade press reports said no brief supporting Kalshi had yet been lodged.

Ten states did not sign the coalition brief, according to industry reporting: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Washington has already banned Kalshi’s sports contracts, while most of the remaining non-signers have Republican attorneys general.

The circuit split

The central argument across the filings is that federal appeals courts now disagree on two questions: whether sports event contracts are swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, and whether that status displaces state gambling law. The Third Circuit ruled 2-1 for Kalshi, while the Sixth Circuit recently allowed states to regulate the company’s sports contracts and the Ninth Circuit has also ruled against the operator.

The states argue that leaving the conflict unresolved will allow the dispute between federal and state regulators to escalate further. The split has already produced a patchwork of outcomes, with Kalshi winning in some federal courts, including an Illinois ruling this week, while Ohio and Missouri have ordered prediction market platforms to halt sports contracts.

Tribes divided

The Cabazon filing lands as the tribal gaming community splits over prediction markets. On the same day the states filed, four tribes announced prediction apps powered by Kalshi, as reported by CNN and Fortune, breaking with tribal gaming groups that have opposed the platforms as a threat to exclusivity rights.

Kalshi, represented by Neal Katyal of Milbank, has until 9 November to respond after the deadline was extended from 8 October. The court has not yet decided whether to take the case, and a decision on certiorari is not expected for several weeks. If the justices agree to hear it, a ruling would settle which level of government regulates a market that has grown rapidly since 2025.

The company says it has received a transactional waiver from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), allowing it to launch a selection of its online and mobile casino games in the US state.

The supplier is now able to take its best performing hits live across the state, including 9 Lions, Larry the Leprechaun, and Sizzling 777 Deluxe, as well as other popular titles, such as Power of Gods: The Pantheon, Magic Stars 3, and Magic Fruits Deluxe.

Andrzej Hyla, Chief Commercial Officer at Wazdan, said: “New Jersey needs no introduction as a market and we’re thrilled to be able to offer some of our most popular games to operators in the state. With more to come from us in this territory, it’s the first step on a very exciting journey.”

LeoVegas is set to make its US debut in New Jersey, following the expected certification of its proprietary tech platform, Rhino, by regulators. The company says it expects to welcome its first US customers during the first half of 2022. 

LeoVegas Group CEO, Gustaf Hagman, said: “We are proud to finally be able to share our plans to establish ourselves in the USA. We think the time and partner are right to launch ‘The King of Casino’ in the USA. The American market has immense growth potential, and players are just now discovering online gaming. In the USA, too, we will focus on what we are best at – offering an innovative, world-class gaming experience directly in mobile phones. Establishing ourselves with our proprietary platform is a strategic decision, and we know from other markets that having full control over our technology is a key competitive advantage.”

Staying with LeoVegas, earlier this month the company announced the launch of its own in-hours games studio, Blue Guru Games.

To successfully operate in the U.S., EveryMatrix will further require customer integration approval as part of the transactional waiver process to receive the green light to ‘Go Live’. By receiving Completed Application status from the DGE, EveryMatrix has provided all required application information on the company and its key officials in line with New Jersey’s law and iGaming standards.

Since the Garden State’s gaming regulation came into effect in 2014, the industry has grown to a whopping $6 Billion in 2020.

Erik Nyman, President Americas at EveryMatrix, says: “I am very pleased that DGE has accepted as complete the application filings of the EveryMatrix Group of companies. Certainly, this is an important milestone for us and puts us on the verge of making our world-class platform and services available to licensed operators in the U.S. market.

“Since New Jersey regulated online gaming in 2014, their framework has played an important role for other states in their process to regulate and implement online gaming. We are very excited to soon be live in New Jersey while we are engaging in several license processes across the U.S.”

As a leading B2B provider of turnkey platform, casino, and sportsbook, EveryMatrix’s expansion plans gained shape in August 2020 with the opening of EveryMatrix Americas branch. To date, the company is on the fast track of securing a full operating license in New Jersey and is pursuing licensing in several other U.S. states.

EveryMatrix is making strides in the U.S., key milestone including the opening of its first U.S. based office in Miami, Florida, and the newly inked partnership with iDevelopment and Economic Association (iDEA) to make new ties to the U.S. iGaming industry.

On the field the Tampa Bay Buccaneers destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9, resulting in a win of $11.3M, and projected payout of $106.1M for New Jersey’s 12 retail and 21 online/mobile sportsbooks. 

In 2020, when the state boasted 10 retail and 19 online sportsbooks, $54.3M was wagered, with operators losing $4.3M after the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers. 

Sports betting revenue in New Jersey reached $399M in 2020, with an annual handle of over $6B. This generated $50M in precious tax revenues for the state, as it was racked by the COVID-19 crisis and business tax revenues in many sectors slumped. 

20 US states, along with the District of Columbia, now offer legal sports betting, with a further five at various stages of approval pending launch.  

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The German company, which has opened a US headquarters and operations centre in Hoboken, New Jersey, says sports fans in the Garden State can now download the fast, secure, and user-friendly app to place bets on a wide variety of sports. 

Discussing the launch Managing Director, US Business, Tipico, Adrian Vella, said:

“After months of getting ready for launch, we are so excited to finally announce that the app is live and to share our offerings with the New Jersey market.

“Tipico is a betting experience unlike any other, and we are confident that as we expand our reach in the U.S., users will love the new features we are regularly adding to the app. This is just the start, but we are proud to call New Jersey our home and it’s been great to see the positive response from sports bettors across the state!”

For its US offering, Tipico has also debuted a new brand platform and advertising campaign, developed with the Öpinionated agency. 

Looking ahead, Tipico plans to launch in Colorado through its recent partnership with Century Casinos, and is in discussions to introduce the brand to more states. 

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EEG says its new subsidiary, GMBL New Jersey Inc., will apply for its New Jersey license in the “near future”, and will then aim to secure gambling licenses across the United States. 

On 9 April this year, EEG was listed on the NASDAQ with an initial public offering that had generated around USD $2,750,000 in warrants and common stock as of 31 May 2020. 

Commenting on the news CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, Grant Johnson, said:

“Today’s announcement marks yet another significant milestone and provides the market with even greater insight as to our growth strategy,” said Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group.  “The US market represents a very big opportunity for us and thanks to the continued support of our valued shareholders, we intend to aggressively pursue it in 2020 and beyond.”

EEG operates the VIE.gg online esports betting platform, which supports fantasy, pools, fixed odds betting and 18+ gaming, and can currently accept wagers in more than 149 jurisdictions globally, including Canada, Japan, and South Africa. 

Despite New Jersey having been one of the states driving post-PASPA gambling legislation progress, it has lagged far behind its arch rival, Nevada, when it comes to esports betting. 

As we’ve been reporting, recently, especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has authorised wagering on a range of esports, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, Dota 2, iRacing, and Overwatch.

AYO.NEWS says:

Staying with EEG, yesterday we reported the company had appointed former Wehype Global Sales Director, Magnus Leppäniemi, as new Vice President of Marketing and Head of Esports at VIE.gg. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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