DraftKings faces legal challenge over contracts in Nevada

DraftKings runs all-50-states ads while Nevada calls its contracts unlawful

DraftKings aired Little League World Series advertisements this week claiming it operates in all 50 states. The Nevada Gaming Control Board says that claim describes unlawful activity.

The gap between those two positions is DraftKings Predictions, the company's event contracts subsidiary, which the operator is using to enter states where it holds no sportsbook license — including Nevada, Hawaii, and Utah, jurisdictions that either prohibit or have moved to block prediction market sports contracts entirely.

Nevada's Gaming Control Board, already in prolonged litigation with Kalshi over the same question, warned DraftKings that its prediction markets activity in the state is unlawful and renders the company incompatible with Nevada's regulated gaming industry. DraftKings had previously withdrawn its Nevada sports betting applications. The board's position is that withdrawal did not resolve the problem — it relocated it.

The legal ground beneath that position is contested but not empty. The Ninth Circuit affirmed Nevada's authority to regulate Kalshi even under CFTC oversight. The Third Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in New Jersey. New Jersey has now asked the Supreme Court to resolve the split. Until it does, DraftKings is making a 50-state claim on a legal theory two federal circuits have decided differently.