Judge lets tribes add plaintiff in suit over Kalshi, Robinhood sports event contracts
A federal judge allowed two tribes to add a plaintiff to their suit over Kalshi and Robinhood sports event contracts, terminated the companies' dismissal motions without prejudice and told the parties to confer on a potential geofencing stipulation.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on October 21, 2026 granted two California tribes’ request to add a plaintiff to their lawsuit alleging that Kalshi and Robinhood are engaged in illegal sports gambling on the tribes’ reservations through sports event contracts, setting a November 4, 2026 deadline for the amended complaint.
The order in Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-06162-JSC, followed a further case management conference held the same day in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
It also granted the tribes’ anticipated motion to amend and terminated without prejudice the defendants’ two pending motions to dismiss.
Geofencing discussions and the November conference
Corley also directed the parties to meet and confer about a potential geofencing stipulation, which would stay in effect until the court orders otherwise.
A further case management conference is set for November 4, 2026, with the updated joint case management statement due the previous day; the statement must address the status of the stipulation discussions, among other things.
The lawsuit and its claims
Blue Lake Rancheria, the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians filed the complaint on July 22, 2025, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and money damages.
The defendants are Kalshi Inc., KalshiEx LLC, Robinhood Markets, Inc. and Robinhood Derivatives LLC.
The tribes allege that the defendants are engaging in illegal sports gambling on their reservations through sports event contracts, in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, their tribal-state gaming compacts, secretarial procedures, gaming ordinances and tribal gaming commission regulations.
The complaint also alleges that California has not authorized and prohibits bets on the outcome of sporting events, except for parimutuel wagering on horse racing, and that no California tribe, including the plaintiffs, offers sports betting on its lands.
An August 7, 2026 order granted a stipulation dismissing the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians from the case.
Blue Lake Rancheria and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians moved on August 14, 2026 for leave to amend the complaint to join a party, attaching a proposed first amended complaint and exhibits including a Buena Vista gaming ordinance and a Buena Vista gaming compact.
Kalshi and the Robinhood defendants opposed the motion on August 28, 2026.
The case’s path through the courts
The tribes moved for a preliminary injunction on September 4, 2025; Corley denied the motion on November 10, 2025, and the tribes appealed the denial to the Ninth Circuit on November 25, 2025.
Kalshi Inc. and KalshiEx LLC had moved to dismiss on October 31, 2025 (Docket No. 67), and Robinhood Markets and Robinhood Derivatives filed a separate dismissal motion the same day (Docket No. 68).
Corley stayed the case in an order signed May 21, 2026 and filed the next day; she had vacated the hearing on the dismissal motions that April and requested briefing on whether the case should be stayed.
On September 16, 2026, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, remanding the case.
Its mandate was filed in the district court on October 8, 2026, after which the clerk set the October 21, 2026 conference.
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