Kalshi strikes deals with four more tribes amid wider opposition
Four additional tribal nations have partnered with Kalshi on prediction market apps, while regulators examine CFTC staffing and FanDuel deepens its split from CME Group.
Kalshi has signed agreements with four further Indian tribes to launch prediction market apps, according to SBC Americas: the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Oklahoma, and California's Alturas Indian Rancheria, Greenville Rancheria and Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation.
The deals follow Kalshi's first tribal partnership, agreed earlier with the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.
Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour, quoted by CNN, said federally regulated prediction markets gave tribes "a real path to new, sustainable revenue" and argued the sector's expansion "doesn't have to be organized around conflict" but could instead let tribal nations participate "as owners".
The move cuts against the dominant position in Indian Country, where larger tribes and bodies including the Indian Gaming Association and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association have fought prediction markets' push into sports through litigation and public campaigning. All of the tribes that have partnered with Kalshi so far are smaller, independent nations.
Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association chairman Matthew Morgan said sports prediction market apps undermine the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and tribal-state compacts by allowing what he called illegal Class III gaming to infringe on tribal sovereignty and threaten revenue tied to government programmes and services. Morgan noted that none of the tribes signing with Kalshi belong to OIGA, so the organisation had no comment on their decisions.
CFTC staffing under review
Separately, the Government Accountability Office is investigating staffing reductions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, after Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the watchdog this summer to examine the matter, NPR reported. The CFTC currently has only one of its five commissioner seats filled, held by chairman Michael Selig.
NPR found that CFTC staffing was 21% below the previous ten-year average by the end of 2025, having fallen 22% between January 2024 and January 2025, with enforcement actions down almost 80% against the decade average for 2025. Warren asked "whether or not the watchdog is actually out there doing a little barking, or has the watchdog been locked up somewhere back in the barn", according to NPR's report.
The outlet also noted that the Selig-led commission approved six new prediction markets registrants in 2025, three times the annual average for the prior decade, and has registered six more so far this year.
FanDuel widens gap with CME
FanDuel has continued distancing its prediction markets operation from CME Group, according to SBC Americas. The National Futures Association listed FanDuel-owned entity New Venture III LLC as a registered futures commission merchant as of 5 October, following a six-month application process.
It is FanDuel's second FCM registration, after FanDuel Predicts, the platform it co-owns with CME Group in which FanDuel holds a 49% stake while CME retains the majority. FanDuel had earlier switched its sports contracts provider from CME to Crypto.com.
FanDuel was the first major online gaming operator to announce prediction markets plans, unveiling its joint venture with CME Group in August 2025. The shift away from that arrangement has come alongside sceptical public remarks from CME Group chairman Terry Duffy, leadership changes at FanDuel and parent company Flutter, and intensifying competition in the event contracts market.