August 22, 2025
| TO: Indian Gaming Association Member Tribes FROM: Ernest L. Stevens Jr., Chairman Jason Giles, Executive Director RE: ACTION NEEDED! Three Amicus Briefs Are Coming Due: Halt the Commodities Futures Trading Commission PARITY FOR INDIAN COUNTRY Date: August 22, 2025 |
| The litigation effort to stem the expansion of sports-related event contracts is ongoing. We are grateful to the tribes and intertribal organizations that joined the June amicus brief. At present, there are three active cases where additional tribal amicus briefs would be helpful to halt the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from allowing self-certified, sports-related event contracts to be traded: KalshiEX, LLC v. John Martin (Fourth Circuit) North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., et al. v. State of Nevada (Nevada) KalshiEX, LLC v. Hendrick, et al. (Nevada) Based on the current schedule, Tribal amicus briefs would be due as follows: Crypto.com – August 25 Kalshi – D. NV – August 29 Kalshi – Fourth Circuit – October 22 (however, this date could move up significantly if the appeal is expedited) We are working on a very tight deadline to ensure our concerns are before the courts as they make their decisions. Unless there is action, the volume of sports-based event contracts traded on derivatives/futures markets is expected to grow—raising significant concerns for tribal gaming operators and regulators nationwide. It is crucial for Tribal governments to closely follow developments at the CFTC and in the courts. By allowing event contracts that are wholly unrelated to commodities, the CFTC risks making policy decisions that overlook the well-documented harms of sports betting—harms that every State and Tribal government has a sovereign duty to evaluate. In addition, each sports event contract traded on tribal lands, or in violation of a Tribal-State compact, deprives tribes and states of revenue our communities rely upon. Please ask your Tribe to sign-on to all three amicus briefs. They are substantially similar to the amicus brief IGA, NCAI and several tribes filed in June. It has been updated to reflect the analysis of the judge in the Maryland case and the evolving arguments put forth by Kalshi and Crypto.com. Please forward your Legal Counsel’s Name and State Bar Admission to Danielle Her Many Horses, dhermanyhorses@indiangaming.org , no later than August 24, 2025. |
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IRS Issues Draft Instructions for Filing W-2G and Form 5754
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