A fast-growing class of online prediction markets is colliding with tribal gaming sovereignty, raising alarms in Indian Country over what tribal experts warn could become an “existential threat” to tribal gaming exclusivity.
The conflict centers on whether prediction-market platforms are effectively offering sports betting while sidestepping the compacts, licensing requirements and regulatory oversight that govern tribal gaming under federal law. What began as a limited set of legal challenges has widened into a broader dispute over who has the authority to regulate online wagering — and where that authority stops.
The dispute sharpened in January, when a Massachusetts court moved to block the prediction-market app Kalshi from offering sports-related contracts in the state, finding that nearly 70% of its trading volume was tied to sports bets.
Patrice Kunesh, a…
