Native American Tribes Fight Sports Betting Rivals

Inside a Native American casino in Wisconsin, cards shuffle atop green felt tables and coins clink into metal trays. The Ho-Chunk Nation has offered gambling since 1982. But the real game is happening far away from the tribe’s casinos. It’s being played on mobile phones, as well as in courthouses and legislatures.

Tribes once dominated gaming outside the industry’s Las Vegas epicenter because gambling was prohibited in most of the US but allowed on Indigenous territory. Now, Native Americans are facing a new kind of challenger: Kalshi Inc., a financial technology firm that’s turning real-world events into tradable prediction markets and allowing bets on sports contests. Supercharged by a partnership with brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc., its contracts can be traded anywhere in the US with a tap in a mobile app, saving a trip to a physical casino.