Case 1:25-cv-12578-RGS Document 1 Filed 09/15/25 Page 15 of 28
provision); Slaney v. Int’l Amateur Athletic Fed’n , 244 F.3d 580, 594-95 (7th Cir. 2001) (holding
that statute’s “exclusive jurisdiction” provision preempts state law claims).
42.
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)), 124 Stat. 1376, 1666, 1672.
43.
Event contracts are 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).
44.
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
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