DraftKings, Robinhood and Fanatics pull sports prediction contracts in Utah after felony charges against Kalshi

Utah’s fight with prediction markets moved from the civil courts to criminal court, and other platforms are pulling back.

The charges. On October 28, 2026, the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed a criminal information in the Third District Court in Salt Lake County against KalshiEX LLC, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara. It lists 14 counts: one second-degree felony count of a pattern of unlawful activity, 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion (one for each of 12 sports wagers an undercover agent placed from Utah in September), and one misdemeanor count of gambling promotion. These are allegations and have not been proven in court. Kalshi called the charges “crazy overreach”, as reported by the Associated Press, and says prediction markets fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction. The federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which takes the same view, has sued Utah. So far the courts have not sided with Kalshi in Utah: a federal judge rejected its bid to block the state’s gambling laws, and in September the 10th Circuit declined to halt enforcement during its appeal, as reported by the Associated Press.

Who pulled back, as reported by FOX 13 and Gambling.com:

• DraftKings Predictions stopped offering sports, novelty, political and certain other event contracts to customers physically in Utah, “effective immediately”. Financial contracts (stocks, commodities, crypto) remain, and existing positions settle as normal.
• Robinhood stopped Utah customers from opening new positions on sports, culture, elections and politics from November 2. Finance and economics contracts remain.
• Fanatics Markets said it would stop offering contracts to people in Utah from November 4.
• FanDuel Predicts also limited Utah customers to contracts tied to economic and financial indicators, as reported by Yogonet.

What it means if you’re in Utah. Utah has strict anti-gambling laws, and its Attorney General treats sports event contracts as gambling. If you hold open positions on any of these apps, check the app’s own notice for what happens to them and whether you can still withdraw. Don’t use a VPN or location workaround to get around a block; it can break the app’s terms and put your balance at risk. The defendants have been told to appear in Third District Court in December, as reported by Gambling.com, and the same question (can states regulate prediction markets?) is being fought in about 20 states, as reported by the Associated Press.

For the October background, including Utah’s civil lawsuit against Kalshi, see our November 2026 round-up of sweepstakes and gambling law changes. For where sweepstakes casinos stand in Utah and other states, see our sweepstakes casino laws by state page.

Sources:

• State of Utah v. KalshiEX LLC, Mansour and Lopes Lara: criminal information, Third District Court (Oct 28, 2026), via Utah News Dispatch
• Associated Press via ABC News: Utah charges Kalshi and its founders (Oct 28, 2026)
• FOX 13: Other predictive markets pull out of Utah after Kalshi criminal charges (Nov 2, 2026)
• Gambling.com: DraftKings, Fanatics and Robinhood curb Utah contracts (Nov 3, 2026)
• Yogonet: DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics scale back Utah prediction markets (Nov 3, 2026)