Case: 1:25-cv-15406 Document #: 43-1 Filed: 01/30/26 Page 4 of 17 PageID #:370
regulatory frameworks; allow Coinbase to siphon gaming revenues from tribal and state governments; and diminish tribal self-determination. Accordingly, this Court should deny Coinbase’s motion for a preliminary injunction. ARGUMENT I. Congress Did Not Impliedly Repeal IGRA. A. IGRA’s Structure In IGRA, Congress explicitly stated that no class III gaming can occur on “Indian lands” unless it is authorized by the tribal government and is in a state that permits such gaming. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(1). Class III gaming—including sports wagering—is authorized on Indian lands only where tribes and states have entered into a compact or procedures prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior to regulate that gaming. 25 U.S.C. §§ 2710(d)(1), 2710(d)(7)(B)(vii); see also 25 C.F.R. § 502.4(c). The Secretary of the Interior must review and approve these agreements in order for them to take effect, and for lawful class III gaming to occur on tribal lands. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8). These core provisions have remained unchanged since 1988. Under this regime, regulation of class III gaming on Indian lands is shared between three sovereigns: tribes, states, and the federal government. Federal courts have described IGRA’s regulatory regime as so comprehensive that it preempts state laws regulating gaming on Indian lands. See Cayuga Nation v. Tanner , 6 F.4th 361, 377 (2d Cir. 2021); see also Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Sakagon Chippew Cmty. , 787 F.Supp. 2d 867, 875 (E.D. Wis. 2011). Congress carefully crafted this comprehensive statutory regime to advance clearly articulated policy goals to: (1) “promot[e] tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments”; (2) provide a statutory basis for regulation that protects players and tribes’ ability to be the primary beneficiary of gaming on their lands; and (3) create a federal regulatory agency to adopt federal standards and protect tribal gaming as a means of generating
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