Utah takes its fight against Kalshi into criminal court, while new Rutgers research raises concerns about gambling participation and problem gambling risks among teenagers.
Utah’s battle with prediction markets has further escalated with the state filing criminal charges against Kalshi and its two founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. The move comes just days after the state filed a civil lawsuit against Kalshi and federal regulators intervened.
Elsewhere, a new Rutgers study has revealed concerning gambling trends among teenagers, the U.K. has announced another gambling tax increase, the earnings season for gambling companies is in full swing, and Ontario is preparing to open its Niagara casino market to new operators.
The Big Story: Utah Files Criminal Charges Against Kalshi and Its Founders
Utah has filed 14 criminal counts against Kalshi and named its co-founders, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara, as co-defendants in a case alleging illegal gambling operations.
The charges include one second-degree felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion and one class A misdemeanor count of general gambling promotion.
According to the criminal complaint, an undercover investigator with the Utah Attorney General’s Office created a Kalshi account using a local address, phone number and debit card. Between September 13 and 26, he placed 12 sports wagers totaling approximately $115, including on NFL games, college football, MLB, MLS and NHL.
Prosecutors allege Kalshi collected fees from the wagers despite knowing the user was located in Utah. The complaint states that Mansour and Lopes Lara maintained control of Kalshi and participated in its operations through a pattern of unlawful activity.
The charging document further states that despite a federal judge granting Utah summary judgment in August and the Tenth Circuit’s subsequent denial of Kalshi’s motion for an injunction pending appeal, Mansour and Lopes Lara “have continued to provide or Offer to provide online gambling to individuals in the State of Utah.”
The charges follow Utah’s civil lawsuit last week, which sought to block Kalshi’s operations and recover alleged illegal proceeds. On October 26, both the CFTC and Crypto.com’s exchange filed separate federal lawsuits challenging Utah’s enforcement authority.
The broader legal battle in Utah continues to expand. Separately, Kalshi’s existing Tenth Circuit appeal attracted several new amicus briefs on Wednesday, including from 37 states, Washington, D.C., the Northern Mariana Islands, the American Gaming Association, Better Markets and tribal gaming organizations.
Utah Follows Arizona With Criminal Charges
Utah is the second state, after Arizona, to pursue criminal charges against Kalshi. The CFTC challenged Arizona’s enforcement efforts in federal court and secured a preliminary injunction in May blocking a possible prosecution.
Arizona appealed the decision in the Ninth Circuit and asked the court to reverse it, citing the appellate court’s August ruling in Nevada’s favor against Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com.
The Daily Wire
Rutgers Study Finds 43% of Teens Gambled in Past Year
A new national study from Rutgers University has found that 42.7% of Americans ages 13 to 17 participated in some form of gambling over the past year. Approximately 11% of teenage gamblers were classified as high risk for problem gambling.
Researchers surveyed 1,677 Americans ages 13 to 27 and found that 52.5% of respondents gambled in the previous year. Nearly one in five (18.9%) of adolescents aged 13 to 17 gambled at least weekly. This age group was more likely to play bingo and participate in raffles.
From the overall 13-27 age sample, 20.7% participated in sports betting and 18.4% in season-long fantasy. In emerging activities, 14% participated in cryptocurrency trading, 12.9% in high-risk stock trading, 8.5% in social casino gaming, 8.3% in esports betting, and 6.6% in prediction markets.
Approximately 40% of prediction-market participants and 41% of social casino players were classified as high risk for problem gambling.
Family gambling exposure also emerged as a significant factor. Among high-risk teenage gamblers, 75.5% reported having a family member who gambled, while 61.2% had gambled with a family member.
UK Raises Slot Machine Tax to 25%, but Gambling Stocks Climb
The U.K. government has announced another gambling tax increase, raising Machine Games Duty from 20% to 25% on higher-stakes gaming machines starting April 1, 2027.
The change, announced in Chancellor John Healey’s October 28 budget, applies to machines with stakes exceeding £1 or prizes exceeding £100. The increase follows last year’s budget, which raised Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% and the tax on most sports betting profits from 15% to 25%.
The latest hike is much smaller than the widely anticipated doubling to 40%, which the Social Market Foundation think tank recommended in June.
As expected, the gambling industry stakeholders responded negatively to the increase. Operators such as Entain said they expect a hit to their bottom line, while others said it could lead to further closures of retail betting shops.
Still, U.K. gaming stocks rose after the news. Entain and Evoke’s shares jumped 4%-5%, while Rank Group rose 10%.
MGM, Rush Street Interactive and Churchill Downs Report Q3 Earnings
Earnings season for gambling companies continued Wednesday, with MGM Resorts, Churchill Downs and Rush Street Interactive reporting third-quarter results.
MGM Resorts reported consolidated revenue of $4.2 billion, down 1% year over year. Las Vegas Strip revenue fell 2% amid lower hotel room rates, while MGM China revenue rose 5%, partially offsetting the domestic decline. Adjusted EBITDA declined to $403 million from $506 million in Q3 2025.
On the earnings call, CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that acquisition talks with Barry Diller’s People Inc. have ended and the two companies have entered into an amended voting agreement.
Churchill Downs posted third-quarter revenue of $696 million, up 2%. Adjusted EBITDA grew 1% to $264 million. Alongside its results, Churchill Downs announced a new $750 million share repurchase program and a 7% increase in its quarterly dividend, signaling continued plans to return capital to shareholders.
Meanwhile, Rush Street Interactive posted strong growth. Revenue rose 39% to $385.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA jumped 73% to $62.2 million. The online gaming operator also reported a record number of monthly active users in North America.
During the earnings call, CEO Richard Schwartz was optimistic about iGaming expansion in the U.S., naming Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Washington, D.C. as jurisdictions worth monitoring.
Ontario Opens Niagara Falls Casino Market to Three New Operators
Ontario has launched a competitive investment process that could bring up to three new casino operators to the Niagara Falls region.
The initiative, announced Wednesday by the provincial government and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), aims to attract more than CA$3 billion ($2.14 billion) in direct gaming investment and an additional CA$600 million ($429 million) in private-sector investment over the next 20 years.
Under the plan, experienced casino operators will first submit expressions of interest, and shortlisted applicants will be invited to propose new integrated casino developments.
Ontario plans to introduce a 9.75% gaming tax rate for Niagara operators as it establishes what it calls the province’s first competitive land-based gaming market. The government estimates the expansion could support more than 10,000 construction jobs.
Interested companies have until December 3 to respond to the first phase.
Polymarket Sues Louisiana Over Prediction Market Restrictions
Two days after Kalshi preemptively sued Louisiana officials, Polymarket also filed a federal lawsuit.
The complaint states that “The threat to Polymarket US is immediate and concrete.” It cites the Louisiana Gaming Control Board’s December 2025 advisory notice, which classified sports-event contracts as illegal gambling under Louisiana law.
Polymarket argues that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over its markets and that Louisiana’s threatened enforcement conflicts with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). The company also raises a Commerce Clause challenge.
Sixth Circuit Orders Ohio and Tennessee to Respond to Kalshi’s Rehearing Request
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has directed Ohio and Tennessee to respond to Kalshi’s petition for rehearing of a September decision that favored the two states in their prediction market disputes.
As gaming attorney Daniel Wallach first noted, the October 28 order gives both states until November 12 to file responses, limited to 3,900 words, with no extensions permitted.
Kalshi petitioned for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc, arguing that the appellate court’s ruling that Kalshi’s sports-event contracts are not swaps under the CEA and that the CEA does not preempt Ohio’s gambling laws conflicts with other federal court decisions and recent CFTC rulemaking.
NFL Forced Saquon Barkley to Divest Polymarket Stake
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley revealed he had to sell his ownership stake in Polymarket after the NFL clarified that its restrictions on gambling-related investments also apply to prediction markets.
“I am not in that right now,” Barkley told Front Office Sports. “I am not allowed to be in that.”
The NFL previously told FOS that players are prohibited from investing in or promoting prediction-market platforms, although it declined to comment specifically on Barkley’s situation.
The revelation highlights the league’s contrasting approach to other major sports organizations.
The NBA recently announced partnerships with both Kalshi and Polymarket, while MLB, the NHL and MLS have also embraced prediction markets through commercial agreements.
The NFL, meanwhile, has resisted entering similar partnerships. An NFLPA spokesperson told FOS in January that the league “views prediction markets as gambling entities.” The league previously urged prediction markets to remove “objectionable bets,” citing integrity risks. It has also banned prediction market contracts from the Super Bowl and recently urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the legal status of sports-event contracts.
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