DraftKings and FanDuel pull sports contracts in Utah

Two US sportsbook operators are pulling sports prediction contracts in Utah. DraftKings confirmed to Legal Sports Report on Thursday 29 October that customers physically located in Utah can no longer trade sports, novelty, political and certain other event contracts on DraftKings Predictions. FanDuel Predicts will stop sports, political and novelty contracts in the state from Friday 30 October at 10:00 ET (15:00 CET), a spokesperson told the same outlet.

"Effective immediately, sports, novelty, political, and certain other event contracts are no longer available on DraftKings Predictions for customers physically located in Utah," DraftKings said in its statement. Legal Sports Report says DraftKings emailed customers that Utah has transitioned to a financial-only prediction market experience; "financial-only" is the outlet's wording.

What stays and what goes

• Gone: sports, political and novelty contracts on both apps (DraftKings also lists "certain other" event contracts).
• Stays: financial contracts. On DraftKings these are tied to stocks, commodities and cryptocurrency; on FanDuel, economic benchmarks and financial indicators.
• Open positions: both companies say existing positions in the affected markets stay open and settle normally.

Context

Legal Sports Report says the pullbacks come amid the state's escalating legal battles. In the statements it quotes, neither company gave a reason, as of 30 October. On 28 October Attorney General Derek Brown's office filed 14 criminal counts against Kalshi's operating company, with its two co-founders named as co-defendants, built on 12 sports bets an undercover agent placed in September. Those are charges, not findings. Two days earlier the CFTC, the federal derivatives regulator, had sued Utah to stop it applying state gambling law to exchanges it registers.

The legal fight is still open. Kalshi's appeal against Utah is before the Tenth Circuit in KalshiEX v. Cox. On 28 October, 37 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands filed an amicus brief there supporting Utah's side.

Who has not moved

According to Legal Sports Report, Fanatics Markets still listed Utah among 22 states for sports contracts at the time of its check, and an industry source said the company was "working through the process". Fanatics did not comment. Legal Sports Report also says Kalshi and Polymarket continue to offer sports contracts in Utah.

In our reading, DraftKings and FanDuel have more to lose than the pure exchanges: both hold sportsbook licences in other states, and a criminal case that names company leaders personally is a risk regulated operators tend to avoid. It echoes Polymarket's planned exit from sports contracts in Michigan.

For readers outside the US: these are US prediction-market products, and the change applies only in Utah. It has no effect on players anywhere else.