Nevada Council on Problem Gambling Moves to Cut Ties With National Council Over Kalshi Deal

The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling is preparing to break with the National Council on Problem Gambling after the national group partnered with prediction platform Kalshi. For high-risk operators, the dispute matters because it shows where state-level gambling groups are drawing the line on prediction markets, sports-linked contracts, and consumer-protection standards.

1. The Nevada Council says months of negotiations with the National Council leadership failed to resolve a basic disagreement over how prediction markets should be treated. The split is not really about branding; it is about whether these products belong in the financial-instruments bucket or should be treated as gambling with the same safeguards as mainstream operators.
2. Nevada has already taken a hard regulatory stance. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has taken legal action against Kalshi, arguing that sports-based contracts amount to sports betting and should be subject to state gambling regulations. The state has also ordered prediction platforms to stop offering such products to Nevada residents.
3. According to executive director Trey Delap, the consumer-protection problem is partly age-related and partly linguistic. Kalshi allows customers as young as 18, while the National Council supports a minimum gambling age of 21. Delap also said the language used by prediction platforms can complicate harm-prevention efforts, especially among younger consumers.
4. The immediate trigger was the National Council’s Financial Services and Trading initiative, launched in May and funded by Kalshi. Kalshi committed $2 million over two years to support trader health and safety. Nevada first tried to pause its membership in June; when that request was denied, it moved to terminate the relationship.
5. Delap said, “We cannot lend Nevada’s name and credibility to an organization when we no longer believe we’re aligned on a fundamental consumer-protection issue.” He also said stakeholders including gaming, treatment, regulators, and other state councils are discussing whether to withdraw or redirect their support. Washington’s Evergreen Council has also criticized the partnership with Kalshi.

The broader backdrop is the rise of prediction markets across the USA, especially contracts tied to sports events. That puts these platforms in direct competition with licensed sportsbooks, while state authorities keep insisting that wagering on a sports outcome is a bet, whatever the legal label says.