NFL asks the Supreme Court to settle who regulates sports contracts, backing New Jersey against Kalshi

The NFL is urging the Supreme Court to resolve a dispute over who regulates sports contracts on prediction markets, supporting New Jersey in its fight with Kalshi, according to Unchained.

The league’s brief argues that Kalshi’s sports contracts should be treated as gambling rather than swaps. That puts the legal classification of the products at the center of the NFL’s case for Supreme Court intervention.

The dispute over classification

According to Unchained, the NFL contends that the contracts do not meet Dodd-Frank’s definition of a swap. Its position challenges the treatment of sports prediction contracts as financial instruments under that framework, rather than as gambling products.

The league also asks the justices to resolve disagreement among three appeals courts, Unchained reports. The filing is an argument for the court to intervene—not a ruling settling either the contracts’ classification or the question of regulatory authority.

What it means for prediction markets

• Classification is the central issue. The NFL’s argument targets whether Kalshi’s sports contracts qualify as swaps under Dodd-Frank, with implications for who oversees them.
• The request and the outcome are separate. Support for New Jersey does not establish that the Supreme Court will take up the dispute or endorse the league’s position.
• The appeals-court disagreement matters. The reported split among three courts is part of the NFL’s stated basis for seeking a Supreme Court resolution.