The US 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Kalshi's emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, clearing the way for Utah to enforce its gambling laws against the prediction market operator and to take legal action over its sports event contracts.
Kalshi sued Utah in February 2026 after public statements by Governor Spencer Cox and Attorney General Derek Brown. Cox told Bloomberg that '50 states will sue these guys one way or another' and that a business like Kalshi 'is illegal in Utah and will stay that way'. Brown named the company in a piece for Deseret News and set out a plan to fight prediction markets in the state. Kalshi's attempts to reach the attorney general's office went unanswered.
A district court had already refused a preliminary injunction a month earlier. The appellate court said Kalshi failed to show the conditions required to pause enforcement: a likelihood of success on appeal, irreparable harm and the public interest. Its sports contracts now fall under Utah's gambling statutes.
Connecticut is running a parallel case. State authorities sued at the end of August to stop Kalshi, accusing it of unlicensed sports betting. The court there also declined an emergency injunction, leaving the attorney general free to pursue a civil action.
