A group of tribes will weigh in in on the legal battle between Robinhood and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).
Robinhood filed suit against the MGC and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell after Campbell sued Kalshi in state court, arguing that the company’s sports-related event contracts ran afoul of state gaming laws. Robinhood then turned around and sued in federal court over trying to compromise its business partner, as Robinhood hosts sports-related Kalshi event contracts on its platform.
The group asked permission an amicus brief in the case includes the Indian Gaming Association (IGA), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), amongst others. A similar cohort filed briefings in both the Maryland lawsuit with Kalshi and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement’s (DGE) appeal of the preliminary injunction Kalshi earned in the Third Circuit.
The judge in the case granted the admission of the amicus brief on Monday.
Like the previous amicus brief, the proposed brief in this case introduces the argument that these contracts are in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Massachusetts is home to one tribal casino, First Light Casino, which is operated by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
The amicus brief arrives in advance of the state’s response to Robinhood’s complaint, which made no mention of tribal issues.
Robinhood filed its opposition against including the amicus brief, arguing that the matter at hand has no tribal implications, but the judge approved its inclusion nonetheless. Accordingly, Robinhood has requested leave to respond to the arguments put forth in the brief.
The Maryland Kalshi suit was the first of the lawsuits between the financial company and state regulators where the judge denied Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction to keep it online. Last month, tribes were granted amicus status in Crypto.com’s suit against Nevada gaming regulators. In the wake of the group being added to that case, Judge Andrew Gordon ruled differently than he did in Kalshi, denying Crypto.com’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Based on track record, it does appear that these tribal amicus briefs are helping, not hindering cases, which might explain why the tribes are more proactively seeking inclusion in more legal matters as an interested party.
