Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said new rules clarifying the legal status of sports prediction markets could arrive within weeks. The company is also finalising deals with one or two major leagues. The comments follow a Ninth Circuit ruling that classified Kalshi's contracts as sports bets.
"The court decision added more legal uncertainty than existed before," Mansour told RotoWire. Judges cited Rule 40.11 of the Commodity Exchange Act, which allows the CFTC to block contracts it deems contrary to the public interest if they involve gambling. The language is vague. The CFTC has proposed new rules that would define sports-event contracts more clearly; Mansour said they may be published in weeks or months.
Kalshi is close to a deal with the NBA. Mansour stopped short of confirmation but said: "Expect announcements very soon from at least one of the two remaining major leagues." That means the NBA or NFL. Kalshi already has an agreement with the NHL and last week announced contracts with five MLB clubs. MLB and MLS also have deals with Polymarket. The NFL is holding back: executive vice-president Renie Anderson told ESPN the league is not considering the category. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in March that the league is in talks with prediction-market operators.
Mansour insists Kalshi users trade rather than bet. "Ask our winners — people who do research. Someone came from Jane Street, traded options and equities. For them it's trading, and they made millions of dollars," he said. The Ninth Circuit wrote in its decision: "To deny that Kalshi's contracts are sports bets is dishonest. Everyone, including Kalshi, knows this."
Sportsbook operators responded sharply. Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens called the company "thieves" for dodging betting taxes. Circa COO Jeff Benson wrote on X: "Call it betting, trading or predicting. The customer still puts money on an uncertain outcome. That's gambling. The rest is branding." Kalshi's own data show 70% of users lose money — the same pattern as sportsbooks.
