Vardan Khachatryan
Kalshi in Arizona
Contested for sports and election contracts, with no restriction in force.
- Sports contracts
- Available, but contested
- Other contracts
- Available
- Regulator
- CFTC: a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization
- Rulings and actions in Arizona
- 1 on record, listed in the timeline
- Legal sports betting
- Online and retail since 2021
- State criminal case
- 20 misdemeanor counts, on hold under a federal injunction
- Federal appeals court
- Ninth Circuit: ruled against Kalshi on August 28, 2026
- Last change
- September 24, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
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Why Kalshi is legal in Arizona, for now
Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange. The CFTC designated it a contract market in 2020, the status futures exchanges hold.
Arizona says that does not matter. Its attorney general charged Kalshi with illegal gambling and election wagering in March 2026.
What keeps Kalshi open is a federal court order. On May 5, 2026, a judge in Phoenix barred Arizona from enforcing its gambling laws against any CFTC-regulated exchange.
That order is under strain. The Ninth Circuit, which covers Arizona, ruled against Kalshi in a Nevada case on August 28. Arizona wants the order lifted.
What you can trade on Kalshi from Arizona
Everything Kalshi lists: sports, politics, economics, crypto, culture and weather. You must be 18 or over and pass its ID checks.
Sports include the Cardinals, Suns, Diamondbacks and Mercury, plus Arizona State and Arizona football. Several Suns and college games appear in the state's charges.
Elections are the sharper edge. Kalshi still lists the 2026 governor's race between Katie Hobbs and Andy Biggs, the kind of contract Arizona charged.
It also lists the daily high temperature in Phoenix. Nothing on Kalshi is switched off for Arizona today.
How Kalshi works for Arizona traders
Each contract is a yes-or-no question. It pays $1 if the answer is yes and nothing if it is no.
The price works as a probability. At 60¢, the market puts the chance at about 60%.
Say the Cardinals are 60¢ to win on Sunday. You buy 100 contracts for $60. Kalshi's standard fee is $1.68.
A Cardinals win pays $100, a $38.32 profit. A loss costs you $61.68.
Your counterparty is another trader, not a sportsbook. Kalshi takes its fee on both sides and has no stake in the result.
The fee is highest at 50¢ and smaller toward either end. Our Kalshi fees guide has the full schedule.
What Arizona has said about Kalshi
Arizona has gone further than most states. Its Department of Gaming started on May 21, 2025, with a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi.
It told Kalshi to “cease gambling operations in Arizona.” It also wrote to the CFTC and warned its own licensees to keep away.
Its September 2025 notice put it plainly. Selling event contracts in Arizona “without a license from the Department violates Arizona law.”
Then Attorney General Kris Mayes filed charges. “No company gets to decide for itself which laws to follow,” she said.
After the Ninth Circuit ruled in August, she went further: “Calling a sports bet a ‘swap’ doesn't make it one.”
Arizona's criminal case against Kalshi, explained
Kalshi sued first. On March 12, 2026, it asked a federal court in Phoenix to stop Arizona from enforcing its gambling laws.
Four days later, the state filed a 20-count criminal information in Maricopa County Superior Court. It charges KalshiEX LLC and Kalshi Trading LLC, not any person.
All 20 counts are misdemeanors. Sixteen are betting and wagering; four are election wagering, which Arizona bans outright.
The counts rest on small trades, mostly $1 or $2. They include Suns games, Devin Booker points props and Arizona State games.
The election counts cover J.D. Vance in 2028, the 2026 governor's race and its Republican primary, and the secretary of state's race.
Judge Michael Liburdi refused Kalshi's own request on April 8. A federal law generally bars federal courts from halting state prosecutions.
The CFTC had sued on April 2. A suit by the United States is not barred. Its motion won a temporary order on April 10 and an injunction on May 5.
The injunction bars enforcement “through any criminal or civil enforcement actions” tied to contracts on CFTC-regulated exchanges. The prosecution has been frozen since.
What could change Kalshi's status in Arizona
The biggest risk is the Ninth Circuit. On August 28, in Nevada's case, it held sports contracts are likely not swaps and states may regulate them.
Arizona says that ruling dooms its injunction. “Assad is now the law of this Circuit,” it told the court on September 14.
It asked the court to lift the injunction for sports and send the election question back to the trial judge.
The CFTC asked the court to wait. Kalshi wants a rehearing in the Nevada case, and the CFTC expects a new gaming rule within two months.
If the injunction falls for sports, the criminal case could restart and Kalshi's sports contracts could close here. Under Arizona's proposal, election contracts would stay covered for now.
Voters get a say too. Mayes faces Warren Petersen on November 3. The Supreme Court could settle everything; our litigation tracker follows it.
Kalshi in Arizona: timeline
Every change to Kalshi's position in Arizona, newest first. Each entry links the filing or order behind it.
How Kalshi compares to sports betting in Arizona
Sports betting is legal in Arizona, online and in person. Lawmakers approved it in April 2021 alongside new compacts with the state's tribes.
The Department of Gaming licenses up to 10 pro teams and event hosts and up to 10 tribes. DraftKings and FanDuel are among the operators.
Licensed books pay the state 8% of retail and 10% of mobile revenue. In 2024 that came to $42.7 million.
Bettors must be 21. Kalshi takes traders from 18, pays no state fee and holds no Arizona license.
That is Arizona's complaint in a sentence. The state says Kalshi runs a sportsbook without the rules, and Kalshi says it runs a federal exchange.
Other prediction market apps in Arizona
Most apps with Arizona gaming licenses keep sports contracts out. The state has shown what happens otherwise.
In December 2025, it moved to revoke Underdog's fantasy license over a Crypto.com partnership. Crypto.com then pulled its event contracts from Arizona.
Here is where each app we rank stands in Arizona. For the full picture, see prediction markets in Arizona and whether Polymarket is legal in Arizona.
| App | Status in Arizona | More |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| Polymarket US | Not available for sports contracts | Is Polymarket legal in Arizona? |
| OG | Not available | OG review |
| Interactive Brokers | Available; it lists no sports contracts anywhere | Interactive Brokers review |
| Robinhood | Available, sports included | Robinhood review |
| ProphetX | Available, sports included | ProphetX review |
| Coinbase | Available, sports included | Coinbase review |
| Webull | Available, sports included | Webull review |
| Novig | Not available | Novig review |
| DraftKings Predictions | Available, but not for sports contracts | DraftKings Predictions review |
| Fanatics Markets | Not available | Fanatics Markets review |
| FanDuel Predicts | Available, but not for sports contracts | FanDuel Predicts review |
| PrizePicks | Not available | PrizePicks review |
| Underdog Predict | Not available | Underdog Predict review |
How to use Kalshi in Arizona
Sign up with your email, confirm your identity with a driver's license or passport, then fund the account.
Kalshi takes bank transfers, debit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wires and crypto, among others. Bank and wire deposits are free; cards can cost 2%.
Arizona taxes income at a flat 2.5%, and trading profits count. Federal tax applies on top.
Before you deposit, read our Kalshi review for its fees, payouts and lawsuits. New to this? Start with what prediction markets are.