Caesars Pushes Back Against Cayuga Nation Lawsuit Over Mobile Bets in New York

Caesars Sportsbook has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Cayuga Nation over mobile sports wagers allegedly accepted from users physically located on the tribe’s reservation. For high-risk operators, the case is a reminder that the fight is not just about licensing, but about where an online wager is deemed to happen under tribal and state frameworks.

1. The Cayuga Nation filed its suit in June in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York. It alleges that Caesars accepted mobile sports wagers from customers who were physically located within the tribe’s 64,015-acre reservation between January 2022 and July 2025, which the Nation says violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
2. Under IGRA, sports betting is Class III gaming and cannot take place on tribal land without a federally approved tribal-state compact. The tribe argues that Caesars had no legal right to accept bets from users on its reservation, and says it sent the operator a cease-and-desist letter in 2025 warning it about the alleged violations. Caesars then agreed to geofence its offerings to block access on tribal land.
3. The Cayuga Nation also says Caesars’ advertising misled users into believing its products were available throughout New York State without explaining the reservation-specific restrictions. The tribe is seeking damages, disgorgement of profits, and records showing how much money the operator made from bets placed on its reservation.
4. Caesars filed a motion on August 17 asking the court to dismiss the case, arguing that IGRA does not give the Cayuga Nation a viable claim against a private company in these circumstances. The company’s position is that if New York’s framework is inconsistent with IGRA, then the dispute is with New York and its regulators, not Caesars.
5. Caesars also pointed to New York’s mobile sports betting rules, saying state regulators instructed licensed sportsbooks to determine where an online wager takes place by referencing the operator’s servers rather than the customer’s location. Caesars says its servers were not located on Cayuga Nation land. It has since tightened geofencing in the area, but it has refused to provide records on the number of transactions within the reservation and the revenue they generated.