Kalshi Adds Four Tribal Partners as Gaming Groups Remain Split

Four Native American tribes have partnered with prediction market operator Kalshi to launch tribal-branded apps, the company's latest agreements with Indigenous communities despite opposition from established tribal gaming organizations. The partners are California's Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, Greenville Rancheria, and Alturas Indian Rancheria, plus Oklahoma's Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town. They follow Louisiana's Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, which reached a similar deal last month.

Under the arrangements, each tribe owns its app and controls the customer-facing business, while Kalshi runs the underlying exchange and handles execution and clearing. Only Alturas operates a casino among the four new partners.

The partnerships have exposed divisions. The Indian Gaming Association criticized Kalshi for recruiting smaller tribes and warned such deals could be viewed as endorsing products it alleges are illegal. Tribal gaming generated a record $46.2 billion in gross revenue in 2025, with about 56% coming from the top 9% of facilities.

The legal dispute centers on whether sports event contracts are gambling under tribal and state laws or federally regulated financial instruments. Kalshi describes them as event contracts and swaps overseen by the CFTC. Tribal groups call them unauthorized sports gambling. Two California tribes recently won a federal appeals court ruling against Kalshi and Robinhood over sports contracts on tribal land, while a Wisconsin judge declined to shut Kalshi down in the Ho-Chunk Nation's territory.