On Wednesday, Interim Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Mary Jo Flaherty and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, asking SCOTUS to review the case in light of the Third Circuit’s April 2026 ruling in favor of Kalshi.
READ: New Jersey Petition for Writ of Certiorari (September 1st, 2026)
The 332-page filing marks the first step toward bringing a high-stakes battle over how prediction market event contracts are legally categorized before the nation’s highest court. According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s office, “The Third Circuit’s profoundly important decision is also profoundly wrong. Kalshi argues that in granting the CFTC ‘exclusive jurisdiction’ over ‘swaps’ on CFTC-registered markets, Congress in 2010 actually preempted sports-wagering laws applied to these bets.” (page 17)
The filing points to a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which has cleared the way for Western states to block Kalshi’s most popular event contracts under local gambling laws. “But as the Ninth Circuit has since explained, these sports bets are not ‘swaps’ as the statutory text and structure uses that term.”
In a statement issued via email, Kalshi spokeswoman Dani Lever reacted to New Jersey’s formal petition to the US Supreme Court. “We disagree with New Jersey’s filing. Kalshi is an open, nationwide financial exchange. Both the Third Circuit and the District of New Jersey sided with Kalshi because the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction preempts state law.”
Lever ended her statement by adding, “We remain confident in the lower courts’ rulings, and nothing in New Jersey’s filing today changes our view.” For now, New Jersey’s latest legal maneuver will not impact Kalshi’s availability in states that fall under the jurisdiction of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Entering the 2026-27 NFL regular season, Kalshi is fully available in 46 states. Its most popular event contracts are only geoblocked in Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington.
The Supreme Court has the option to “deny cert” or “grant cert” as a legal reaction to New Jersey’s petition. If it denies the petition, the Third Circuit case will remain on ice for now. However, if it grants New Jersey’s request, SCOTUS could decide to hear the case at some point in 2027.
Miami Law School professor Daniel Wallach told Barron’s on Wednesday that a SCOTUS ruling could occur in June 2027, but only if the nation’s highest court grants certiorari.
In a separate post on X, Wallach shared the news that a Michigan state court has entered a preliminary injunction that forces Kalshi to continue geofencing its sports event contracts from residents and visitors located inside the state of Michigan. Wallach maintains that the list of geofenced states for Kalshi sports contracts could grow to well over a dozen between now and 2027.
The geofencing pressure comes as Kalshi prepares to pick off traditional state-licensed sportsbook traffic during the NFL regular season. One week ago, the country’s most prominent CFTC-regulated prediction market platform announced it had waived market maker fees for “uncorrelated” NFL combo trades. That move is expected to attract traditional online sportsbook users to Kalshi, as traders opt for highly competitive pricing for multi-leg combos that include different Week 1 NFL games.
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