Three pueblos and one tribe in New Mexico have launched legal action against prediction market operator Kalshi, accusing the company of enabling unlawful sports betting activity on tribal lands.
The case was announced by the Mescalero Apache Tribe together with the Pojoaque, Sandia, and Isleta pueblos. They argue that Kalshi’s platform allows people in New Mexico to place sports-related wagers, including users younger than the legal gambling age required under tribal gaming rules and federal law.
According to tribal leaders, this activity weakens a regulated gaming framework that funds schools and core public services in their communities. Sandia Pueblo Governor Stuart Paisano said prediction markets used for gambling purposes redirect important revenue away from tribal governments, bypass gaming regulation on tribal land, and may permit underage participation.
Under New Mexico tribal-state gaming compacts, gambling is limited to people age 21 and older.
The lawsuit, filed by a Washington-based law firm, alleges that Kalshi did not put in place geofencing measures that could prevent access from within tribal territories. The complaint says this conduct violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and interferes with tribal sovereignty protections recognized in longstanding federal law.
As part of the complaint, the tribes included an image capture that allegedly shows New Mexico users trading through Kalshi on a University of New Mexico men’s basketball game against New Mexico State University last November.
The filing represents the latest step in a broader push by New Mexico tribes against prediction market products tied to sports outcomes.
That campaign has also drawn political support. During a recent visit to a school on Isleta Pueblo land, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez said he is preparing legislation aimed at stopping companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket from offering sports-betting-style products. Isleta Pueblo Governor Eugene Jiron warned that these markets could create serious long-term harm for tribal communities that depend on gaming income.
Mescalero Apache Tribe Vice President Duane Duffy, who previously called on state lawmakers to act against prediction markets, said tribes in New Mexico had fought to preserve their sovereign authority to operate and regulate casino gaming on tribal land and could not allow those protections to be ignored.
The New Mexico case follows a similar lawsuit brought by the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin last year. Although a federal judge recently declined to issue an emergency order against Kalshi in that case, the court said the tribe had shown a likely path to success on claims under federal Indian gaming law.
State figures underline what is at stake. Data from the New Mexico Gaming Control Board show that 14 tribes and pueblos generated more than $266 million in adjusted net gaming revenue in the final quarter of 2025. That total includes machine revenue after payouts and regulatory fees, though the state does not break out how much came specifically from sports betting.
