2026 Membership Book FINAL

Case 1:25-cv-14723 Document 10-1 Filed 08/19/25 Page 21 of 34 PageID: 93

Amateur Athletic Fed’n , 244 F.3d 580, 594-95 (7th Cir. 2001) (holding that statute’s “exclusive

jurisdiction” provision preempts state law claims).

This express preemption provision includes event contracts, which are “transactions

involving swaps or contracts of sale of a commodity for future delivery,” over which the CFTC

has “exclusive jurisdiction” when “traded or executed on a [designated] contract market.”

7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(A). The term “swap” includes “any agreement, contract, or transaction” that

(among other things) “provides for any purchase, sale, payment, or delivery (other than a

dividend on an equity security) that is dependent on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or the extent

of the occurrence of an event or contingency associated with a potential financial, economic, or

commercial consequence.” Id. § 1a(47)(A)(ii). The term “swap” was added to the CEA in 2010

by the Dodd-Frank Act. See Pub. L. No. 111-203, §§ 721(a)(21) (adding the definition of

“swap” in 7 U.S.C. § 1a(47)), 722(a)(1)(D) (adding “swaps” to the exclusive jurisdiction

provision in 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(A)), 124 Stat. 1376, 1666, 1672.

Alternatively, or in addition to being swaps, event contracts may be considered

transactions in a type of intangible commodity that the CEA calls an “excluded commodity.”

See United States v. Wilkinson , 986 F.3d 740, 745 (7th Cir. 2021) (reviewing “excluded

commodities” under the CEA). An “excluded commodity” includes “an occurrence, extent of an

occurrence, or contingency (other than [certain exceptions]) that is (I) beyond the control of the

parties to the relevant contract, agreement, or transaction; and (II) associated with a financial,

commercial, or economic consequence.” 7 U.S.C. § 1a(19)(iv).

This is precisely what the event contracts traded on Kalshi’s exchange are. Sports-related

event contracts are within these statutory definitions of swaps and transactions in excluded

commodities because: (i) they are binary contracts that pay out depending on the occurrence or

14

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs