Status as of September 25, 2026 · every line has its source and date · not legal advice
As of September 25, 2026, Kalshi is available in California, and its sports contracts are available, according to CBS Sports (September 24, 2026). 9 state actions involving Kalshi are listed below with their sources. This is a dated summary of public sources, not legal advice.
Status at a glance
Service
California
Kalshi (CFTC-regulated exchange)
Available
Kalshi sports contracts
Available
Polymarket US (for comparison)
Reported available
polymarket.com (international site)
No new trades for US users
Kalshi and Polymarket US are reported live in California, including sports. No state enforcement action was found; a tribal IGRA suit (Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi) won a partial Ninth Circuit reversal on 2026-09-16 and is back in district court for the remaining preliminary-injunction factors, with no injunction entered as of the last docket entry checked.
Covers says Kalshi is legal in California as of September 2026 for eligible users aged 18+, while calling sports contracts its most legally sensitive category in the state. Is Kalshi Legal in California? (Covers) (news), September 23, 2026
The Ninth Circuit opinion in the tribes' case remanded for the district court to weigh the remaining preliminary-injunction factors and did not itself order Kalshi to stop offering contracts. Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, Inc., No. 25-7504 (9th Cir.), opinion, September 16, 2026
What has happened in California
Date
Company
Event and source
2026-09-16
Kalshi
A Ninth Circuit panel held Blue Lake and Chicken Ranch likely to succeed in showing Kalshi's sports contracts entered from their tribal lands violate IGRA, reversed the injunction denial in part, affirmed rejection of the Lanham Act claim, and remanded for the remaining injunction factors. Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, Inc., No. 25-7504 (9th Cir.), opinion
State regulator: California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Bureau of Gambling Control. The Attorney General's office is the California body that has acted on prediction markets (multistate amicus briefs); the Bureau page and the California Gambling Control Commission homepage (https://www.cgcc.ca.gov/) showed no prediction-market items when checked on 2026-09-25.
The federal picture
Kalshi has been a CFTC-designated contract market since November 4, 2020 (CFTC release 8302-20). Whether states may still apply their gambling laws to sports event contracts is being decided in the courts, and the federal appeals courts do not agree yet:
September 25, 2026: Pending appellate decisions that could change several states' status: Sixth Circuit (Kalshi v. Ohio, No. 26-3196, and Kalshi v. Tennessee, No. 26-5235; argued 2026-07-30), Fourth Circuit (Kalshi v. Maryland, No. 25-1892; argued 2026-05-07), Second Circuit (Kalshi's New York and Connecticut appeals, Nos. 26-1835 and 26-2239, heard in tandem), Seventh Circuit (CFTC and Kalshi appeals from the Wisconsin injunction denial, No. 26-2636 et al.), Tenth Circuit (Kalshi v. Utah, No. 26-4100). No decision in any of these appeared in the court records checked for this file (CourtListener; indexes can lag PACER by a few days). CourtListener dockets cited in the Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Utah entries
September 16, 2026: Ninth Circuit (Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, Inc., No. 25-7504; Murguia, McKeown, Paez; opinion by Judge McKeown) affirmed in part and reversed in part the denial of two California tribes' preliminary-injunction motion, holding the tribes likely to succeed in showing Kalshi's sports event contracts entered from tribal lands are class III gaming offered in violation of IGRA and their gaming procedures; the case was remanded for the remaining injunction factors, so no injunction had issued as of the last docket entry checked. Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, Inc., No. 25-7504 (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2026) - published opinion (PDF)
September 2, 2026: New Jersey petitioned the US Supreme Court for certiorari in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, LLC (No. 26-299, docketed 2026-09-08); Kalshi's response deadline was extended to 2026-11-09; an amicus brief was filed 2026-09-22 by the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. Supreme Court docket No. 26-299
August 28, 2026: Ninth Circuit (KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad, No. 25-7516; opinion by Judge R. Nelson, with Judges Bade and Lee; Lee concurring) affirmed in part the District of Nevada's order dissolving Kalshi's preliminary injunction, holding the CEA likely does not preempt Nevada gaming law as applied to Kalshi's sports event contracts (which it described as sports bets, not 'swaps'), and remanded for the district court to consider Nevada's challenges to Kalshi's election contracts. Nevada's regulator described the ruling as a 3-0 decision also covering Crypto.com and Robinhood. KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad, No. 25-7516 (9th Cir. Aug. 28, 2026) - published opinion (PDF)
How sure is this page? Confidence: high. Statewide availability is confirmed by two news outlets dated 2026-09-22 to 2026-09-24 and the tribal case by court records, although the result of the 2026-09-24 remand conference could not be checked. Researched September 25, 2026; court cases can change the status at any time, so check Kalshi's app before you trade.
As of September 25, 2026, Kalshi is available in California, and its sports contracts are available, according to CBS Sports (September 24, 2026). 9 state actions involving Kalshi are listed below with their sources. This is a dated summary of public sources, not legal advice.
Can I trade sports contracts on Kalshi in California?
Kalshi's sports contracts are available in California according to the sources on this page as of September 25, 2026. State lawsuits and court orders can change that quickly, so check the dated timeline and Kalshi's app.
Is Kalshi regulated?
Yes, federally: the CFTC designated KalshiEX LLC as a contract market on November 4, 2020. States disagree on whether their gambling laws also reach sports event contracts, and federal courts are split, so availability differs by state.