Is Kalshi legal in North Dakota?
North Dakota at a glance
| Question | Position as of 17 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Does Kalshi accept North Dakota users? | Yes, with no state-specific restriction reported |
| Has North Dakota issued a cease-and-desist? | No publicly reported order |
| Is North Dakota in the Kalshi litigation? | No. Not on the 41-AG CFTC comment of 30 April 2026; not on the 39-state Supreme Court brief of 7 October 2026 |
| Pending legislation | None; the legislature does not sit until January 2027 |
| Legal sportsbooks | Retail only, at six tribal casinos; no state-licensed or online sportsbook |
| Regulator | Attorney General's Gaming Division (charitable gaming); North Dakota Lottery; tribal compacts for casinos |
| Minimum betting age | 21 at tribal sportsbooks; 18 for the lottery |
| Tax on sports betting | None to the state; tribal sportsbooks are not state-taxed |
| Federal circuit | Eighth Circuit; no ruling; Minnesota ban enjoined at district court 27 July 2026 |
A state with no sportsbook of its own
The thing that drives most state action against Kalshi is a licensed sportsbook industry paying tax and asking why a competitor does not. North Dakota has no such industry. Article XI of the state constitution bars gambling except for the lottery, which voters approved in 2004, charitable games run by licensed non-profits, and casinos on tribal land. Sports betting therefore exists only inside the six tribal casinos, 4 Bears in New Town, Grand Treasure in Trenton, Sky Dancer in Belcourt, Dakota Magic in Hankinson, Spirit Lake in St. Michael and Prairie Knights in Fort Yates, whose compacts with the state authorise a sportsbook "except as prohibited by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act," a condition that became meaningless when the Supreme Court struck PASPA down in 2018. Bettors must be 21 and must be on the premises. There is no mobile product and no state tax on the handle.
The legislature has tried to change this four times and failed four times. Bills in 2019 died in committee or in the Senate; a 2021 resolution to put the question on the 2022 ballot passed the House and lost narrowly in the Senate; a 2023 constitutional amendment and a companion task-force bill both stalled in the Senate; and in January 2025 the House rejected HCR 3002, Representative Scott Louser's amendment that would have let the legislature license and tax professional and college sports betting with the proceeds earmarked for schools, by 70 votes to 24. Louser estimated $25 million to $30 million a year in revenue; no witness appeared to support the measure. Because the legislature meets only in odd years and an amendment needs a statewide vote, the earliest a North Dakota resident could legally place an online sports bet with a state-licensed operator is late 2028, and only if the 2027 session reverses a 70-24 vote.
That matters for Kalshi in two directions. There is no in-state operator with a tax bill to point to, no regulator with a sports wagering mandate, and no revenue line in the state budget that an exchange is accused of eroding, which removes most of the motive that produced letters in Ohio, Missouri and Louisiana. At the same time, the state's own position is that sports betting outside tribal land is unconstitutional, so a North Dakotan trading an NFL contract on Kalshi is doing something the state has never licensed anyone to offer. Nobody in Bismarck has yet said that this makes Kalshi an illegal bookmaker. Nobody has said the opposite either.
What North Dakota has not done
The record is defined by absences. When 40 states and the District of Columbia told the CFTC on 30 April 2026 that "any distinction between sportsbook bets and prediction-market bets is illusory," North Dakota was not among them, though both of its neighbours, Minnesota and South Dakota, were. When Ohio's solicitor general filed the amicus brief for 39 states and the District of Columbia at the Supreme Court in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, No. 26-299, on 7 October 2026, asking the justices to take New Jersey's case, North Dakota was again absent, again unlike Minnesota and South Dakota. Only six states skipped both: North Dakota, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Montana and Washington. Of those, Washington has its own injunction against Kalshi, Montana has restricted sports contracts, and Texas and Florida have at least studied the question. North Dakota has not; Attorney General Drew Wrigley has made no public statement on prediction markets that we could find, and the Gaming Division's published guidance concerns pull-tabs, bingo and electronic charitable gaming, not event contracts.
The CFTC, for its part, has sued states that acted against prediction markets: Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, and intervened in Minnesota. It has had no reason to sue North Dakota. The state is not a party, an amicus or a signatory to anything in the Kalshi litigation. Among the 50 states, that puts it in the smallest group.
The Eighth Circuit, where Minnesota's case is
North Dakota's federal appeals court is the Eighth Circuit, shared with Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Arkansas. It has not ruled on whether sports event contracts are swaps or whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling law, and no appeal is pending that would make it do so soon. The one district court decision in the circuit is Judge Menendez's July 27, 2026 order in the District of Minnesota, which enjoined enforcement of Minnesota's felony prediction market ban against CFTC-designated contract markets on the finding that the United States, Kalshi and Polymarket US were likely to succeed "at least in part" on their express-preemption claims. Minnesota has not publicly appealed. Iowa's regulator has a dispute with Kalshi in litigation, and Missouri's attorney general sent cease-and-desist letters to six platforms on 18 September 2026 with a 30-day deadline, but neither has produced a ruling.
Outside the circuit, the law has hardened against Kalshi. The Ninth Circuit ruled for Nevada on 28 August 2026 and the Sixth Circuit for Ohio and Tennessee on 25 September, both holding that states may enforce their gambling laws; the Third Circuit ruled for Kalshi in April; and the Supreme Court has New Jersey's petition in front of it, with Kalshi's response due 9 November. If the Court takes the case, its decision would bind North Dakota along with everyone else. If it does not, North Dakota remains in a circuit where the only precedent is a district court win for the platforms, which is a more comfortable position for Kalshi than Ohio's, Nevada's or Utah's, and a less certain one than Delaware's or Pennsylvania's inside the Third Circuit.
What this means in practice
A North Dakota resident can open a Kalshi account at 18 and trade sports, economic and political contracts; the same person cannot legally bet on a game with any licensed operator until they are 21 and physically inside a tribal casino. Neither fact is a legal opinion. The first could change if the Supreme Court rules for New Jersey, if the Eighth Circuit takes up a Minnesota, Iowa or Missouri appeal and sides with the states, or if Wrigley decides a tribal compact's exclusivity is worth defending in court, as Florida's governor has suggested in his state. Kalshi has geofenced states after orders were issued, so present access is not a guarantee of continued access. Every dated action is in the prediction market change log, and the current map is in the Kalshi legality tracker.
For the circuit neighbour whose case will set the precedent, see Minnesota; for the two Eighth Circuit states that have acted, see Iowa and Missouri; for another quiet state with no sportsbook to protect, see Georgia. For how the two products differ in cost, see sportsbooks versus prediction markets. This page describes the regulatory position. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation to trade or wager anything.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kalshi legal in North Dakota?
Kalshi operates in North Dakota and no publicly reported North Dakota cease-and-desist order, lawsuit or regulatory finding targets it as of 17 October 2026. North Dakota sits in the Eighth Circuit, which has not ruled on whether states can regulate sports event contracts; the only Eighth Circuit district ruling, in Minnesota, went Kalshi's way. That is the practical position, not a ruling by any North Dakota court.
Has North Dakota taken any official position on prediction markets?
No. Attorney General Drew Wrigley did not sign the 41-attorney-general comment to the CFTC of 30 April 2026 or the brief Ohio filed for 39 states and the District of Columbia at the Supreme Court on 7 October 2026. North Dakota is one of six states on neither list, with Texas, Florida, Georgia, Montana and Washington.
Is sports betting legal in North Dakota?
Only in person at tribal casinos. The state constitution limits gambling to the lottery, charitable gaming and tribal casinos, so statewide online sports betting would need a constitutional amendment approved by the legislature and by voters. The House rejected the latest attempt, HCR 3002, by 70 votes to 24 in January 2025. Six tribal casino sportsbooks operate under compacts, with a minimum age of 21.
Who regulates gambling in North Dakota?
The Attorney General's office, through its Gaming Division, licenses and regulates charitable gaming; the North Dakota Lottery runs the lottery; and tribal casinos operate under state-tribal compacts. There is no sports wagering regulator because there is no state-licensed sports wagering.
Which federal circuit covers North Dakota, and has it ruled?
The Eighth Circuit, which also covers Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Arkansas. It has not ruled on prediction markets. In Minnesota, a federal judge enjoined the state's felony ban on 27 July 2026; Iowa and Missouri have active disputes at the state level. Until an Eighth Circuit panel decides, there is no binding precedent for North Dakota either way.
Related
- Is Kalshi legal in Minnesota? The ban that never started
- Is Kalshi legal in Iowa?
- Is Kalshi legal in your state? The 50-state tracker
- Will the Supreme Court take the Kalshi case?
- Parlay calculator
Sources
- BettingUSA, North Dakota sports betting, for the constitutional limits, the six tribal sportsbooks and their compacts, the 21+ minimum, the 2019 to 2025 legislative history and the 2027 session timing.
- SBC Americas, North Dakota sports betting amendment voted down in House, 22 January 2025, for the 70-24 vote on HCR 3002 and Representative Louser's revenue estimate.
- North Dakota Attorney General, Charitable gaming, for the Gaming Division's remit.
- Maryland Attorney General, Prediction markets comment letter to the CFTC, 30 April 2026, for the 41 signatories and North Dakota's absence.
- Supreme Court of the United States, Brief of Ohio and 38 other states and the District of Columbia as amici curiae, No. 26-299, October 2026, for the signatories and North Dakota's absence.
- U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Order granting preliminary injunctions, Nos. 26-cv-2661, 26-cv-2778 and 26-cv-2841, 27 July 2026, for the Eighth Circuit district ruling.
- CBS Sports, Are sports prediction markets legal? Status in all 50 states, 16 October 2026, for North Dakota's live status with no state action.
18+ only. Prediction market contracts and sports wagering carry real financial risk. This page is analysis, not legal, financial or betting advice. If gambling stops being fun, help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.