New Jersey asks Supreme Court to review prediction market dispute

New Jersey asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to weigh in on a growing legal battle between prediction markets and states over who has the authority to regulate the platforms.

It marks the first time that the dispute, which has resulted in conflicting decisions at the appellate level, has been raised to the justices.

“Companies like Kalshi claim to offer legal sports betting in all 50 States, but they refuse to follow the gambling laws of any State,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport (D) said in a statement.

“These companies have no right to offer their sports bets without following state law, which is why dozens of States across the ideological spectrum have opposed them,” she continued.

Kalshi sued New Jersey last year , seeking to block the Garden State from enforcing its gambling laws against the platform.

Prediction markets, which allow users to place wagers on the outcome of various events, argue their products are distinct from traditional gambling and should be federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Numerous states have disagreed, arguing the platforms fall under their jurisdiction and are subject to state gambling regulations and taxes.

“States have long adopted careful laws to regulate gambling, including to prevent compulsive gambling, gambling by minors, and insider trading on sports games,” Davenport added Wednesday. “We’re calling on the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law.”

The New Jersey petition comes less than a week after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that states can regulate prediction markets like gambling and sportsbooks.

In a unanimous decision Friday, a three-judge appeals panel upheld a lower court decision allowing Nevada to oversee Kalshi.

This diverged from a ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year in New Jersey’s case, which blocked the state from enforcing its gambling laws against the company.

Prediction markets have found a key ally in the Trump administration in this dispute. CFTC Chair Michael Selig, who vowed in February to challenge any state efforts at regulating prediction markets, has so far brought lawsuits against nine states.

President Trump himself waded into the dispute in late May, arguing the agency should have exclusive jurisdiction over the platforms.