Massachusetts AG Expands Kalshi Lawsuit, Cites Teen Targeting
Massachusetts' attorney general filed an amended suit against Kalshi, alleging the prediction market firm targeted underage users via social media and campus marketing.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell escalated her legal campaign against prediction market platform Kalshi on Tuesday, filing an amended complaint after a judge granted permission to broaden the case. The updated lawsuit zeroes in on allegations that Kalshi deliberately marketed sports event contracts to users under the age of 21, raising fresh concerns about consumer protection in the fast-growing prediction markets industry.
The amended complaint specifically accuses Kalshi of deploying social media campaigns and on-campus marketing at universities to reach young people who may be below the legal threshold for sports betting participation in Massachusetts. The state's legal action signals growing scrutiny of how prediction market platforms approach age verification and targeted advertising as they push into contested regulatory territory.
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Kalshi has positioned itself as a federally regulated prediction market rather than a traditional sportsbook, a distinction that sits at the heart of its ongoing legal battles with state regulators. Massachusetts officials appear unconvinced by that framing, using the amended filing to reinforce their argument that Kalshi's sports-related contracts function as gambling products subject to state oversight and age restrictions.
The case reflects a broader national tension between federal commodity regulators, who have greenlit certain prediction market products, and state attorneys general who argue those approvals do not override local consumer protection and gambling statutes. How courts ultimately resolve that jurisdictional dispute could set precedent for the entire prediction markets sector, which has expanded rapidly in the wake of favorable federal rulings.
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