Vardan KhachatryanPrediction markets in Utah
All 15 apps we rank are open here, and 14 offer sports contracts.
- Apps restricted or contested
- Kalshi
- Rulings and actions in Utah
- 3 on record, listed in the timeline
- Legal gambling
- None: the Utah Constitution bans it
- Minimum age
- 18 on most apps, 21 on three
- Federal appeals court
- Tenth Circuit: has not ruled on the question
- Last change
- September 8, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
Why prediction markets are in legal limbo in Utah
Utah is one of two states, with Hawaii, that allows no gambling at all. The ban is written into its constitution.
Prediction market apps say they are not gambling. They are CFTC-regulated exchanges, they argue, and state gambling law cannot reach them.
A federal judge in Salt Lake City rejected that argument on August 4, 2026, in a case Kalshi brought. The Tenth Circuit refused to pause his ruling.
Utah can now enforce its ban. It has not done so yet, and the apps have not left. That gap is where Utah traders live.
Which prediction market apps work in Utah
Every app we rank still accepts Utah traders. Kalshi's sports contracts are the ones a court has already said Utah may stop.
Utah is also a sports state for the sportsbook brands. DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Markets list it, because none runs a sportsbook here.
PrizePicks lists Utah for all its pick types, sports included, as of September 14.
Age rules differ. Most apps take traders from 18. Novig, Fanatics Markets and Interactive Brokers require 21.
The table lists each app in our ranking order, with its status here and a link to our review.
| App | Status in Utah | More |
|---|---|---|
| Kalshi | Contested for sports contracts, with no restriction in force | Is Kalshi legal in Utah? |
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| Polymarket US | Available, sports included | Polymarket review |
| OG | Available, sports included | 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 | Available, sports included | Novig review |
| DraftKings Predictions | Available, sports included | DraftKings Predictions review |
| Fanatics Markets | Available, sports included | Fanatics Markets review |
| FanDuel Predicts | Available, sports included | FanDuel Predicts review |
| PrizePicks | Available, sports included | PrizePicks review |
| Underdog Predict | Available, sports included | Underdog Predict review |
Is Polymarket legal in Utah?
Polymarket US operates in Utah under the CFTC, and we found no Utah action against it.
That is not the same as safe. The August ruling turned on federal law that covers every exchange, not on anything particular to Kalshi.
Utah's governor has named Polymarket too. In March he pointed to Polymarket and Kalshi markets on Utah's congressional races.
The international site is a separate product. Polymarket.com runs on crypto, is not CFTC-regulated and is close-only for Americans.
Our Polymarket review covers its fees, payouts and how the US app works.
How a prediction market trade works
Every contract is a yes-or-no question. It pays $1 if the answer is yes and nothing if it is no.
The price is the crowd's odds. A contract at 60¢ means traders put the chance at about 60%.
Say BYU is 60¢ to win on Saturday on Kalshi. You buy 100 contracts for $60, plus a $1.68 fee.
If BYU wins, you collect $100, a $38.32 profit. If it loses, you are out $61.68.
You can also sell before the result, at whatever the market pays then. New to this? Start with what prediction markets are.
What Utah has said about prediction markets
Utah's leaders have not minced words. Governor Spencer Cox calls prediction markets “gambling, full stop.”
In March he compared them to a duck. “It's, you know, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. It's a duck,” he said.
Attorney General Derek Brown agrees. “Gambling is gambling no matter what any company calls it,” he said after the August ruling.
In February, Brown wrote that his college-aged son got a Kalshi ad on Super Bowl morning. It promised he could “legally trade on football outcomes” in Utah.
The Legislature acted too. A 2026 law makes clear that proposition bets, the kind prediction markets list, count as gambling.
The court cases that shape Utah's rules
One case matters most: KalshiEx LLC v. Cox, No. 2:26-cv-00151. Kalshi filed it on February 23, 2026, to head off enforcement.
Judge Robert J. Shelby granted Utah summary judgment on August 4. Federal commodities law does not override Utah's power to ban gambling, he held.
Kalshi appealed. On September 8, the Tenth Circuit denied it an injunction while the appeal runs, No. 26-4100.
Utah told that court no order yet requires Kalshi to block Utah users. We found no order since that does.
The Tenth Circuit has not yet decided the appeal itself. Our page on whether Kalshi is legal in Utah covers the case in full.
What Utahns can trade
College football leads. BYU, Utah and Utah State games trade on Kalshi, and the Jazz and the Mammoth follow in winter.
Politics is on the menu too. Utah's redrawn 1st Congressional District is on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and prediction markets have listed it.
Governor Cox says Utah law forbids betting on elections as well. The court case so far concerns only sports contracts.
Economics, crypto and weather markets round it out. Those are the contracts Utah's fight has not touched.
The risks for Utah traders
The law has already turned. Utah may enforce its ban, and an app could leave with little notice.
If that happens, open positions may not survive. Kalshi told the Tenth Circuit enforcement would mean blocking Utah users, unwinding trades, or both.
Utah treats offering online gambling as a third-degree felony. Its case targets Kalshi, and we found no action against individual traders.
You can lose everything you put into a contract. Utah also taxes profits at its flat 4.5% income tax rate.
Trade only what you can afford to lose. Our responsible trading guide covers limits and where to get help.
What could change for Utah traders
Three things could. Utah could enforce, by suing or by charging an app. Its attorney general has said he will enforce the ban.
The Tenth Circuit could rule on the appeal. Or the Supreme Court could settle the split between the circuits for every state.
Congress is the wild card. Utah Sen. John Curtis leads a bill that would ban sports contracts on prediction markets nationwide.
Our litigation tracker follows each of these cases.
Utah prediction market timeline
Every change to prediction markets' standing in Utah, newest first. Each entry links the ruling or report behind it.
Prediction markets vs sports betting in Utah
Utah has no sportsbooks, no casinos, no lottery and no horse racing. Offering online gambling to anyone in the state is a felony.
Prediction markets moved into that gap. Their sports contracts pay out like bets, and a federal court says Utah law can treat them that way.
The difference is who supervises them. The CFTC regulates the exchanges. No Utah agency licenses them, because Utah licenses no gambling at all.
So if a dispute comes up, you complain to the app first, then to the CFTC.
How to choose a prediction market app in Utah
Start with the legal risk. Kalshi is the app a court has already ruled Utah may stop. The others face the same argument untested.
Then compare fees. They vary more than prices do. Our fee comparison works out each app's cost on the same trade.
Our app rankings score every app on the same six criteria. Each review covers fees, payouts and the lawsuits against it.
If you use Kalshi, read whether Kalshi is legal in Utah first. It covers the appeal and what enforcement would mean.