Part of United States
Utah prohibits gambling in every form and has no gambling regulator, because its Constitution forbids one. Article VI, Section 27 says the Legislature shall not authorise any game of chance, lottery or gift enterprise under any pretence or for any purpose. There is no state lottery, no licensed casino, card room or bingo hall, no charitable gaming exception and no pari-mutuel wagering. The Utah Horse Racing Commission licenses race meets, but its Act states that it permits no gambling. Changing any of this would take a constitutional amendment passed by two thirds of each house and approved by voters. The prohibition sits in the Criminal Code, recodified on 7 May 2025 as sections 76-9-1401 to 76-9-1412. Offering online gambling to anyone in Utah is a third degree felony, and taking part in gambling is a class B misdemeanour, so players as well as operators are liable. The law reaches sweepstakes machines and casino-style promotions as 'fringe gambling', lets people who lose money to gambling devices sue for twice the loss, and requires lottery advertising to be marked 'Void in Utah'. There is no gambling tax because nothing can be licensed. The live issue is prediction markets. From 6 May 2026 H.B. 243 added proposition bets, bets on an individual action, statistic or occurrence, to the definition of gambling. On 4 August 2026 the federal court in Utah ruled in KalshiEX v. Cox that the Commodity Exchange Act does not stop the State enforcing its gambling laws against Kalshi's sports contracts. Kalshi has appealed to the Tenth Circuit.
Grouping Utah with states that merely lack online gambling: Utah has no lottery, charitable gaming or racing wagers either, and the bar is constitutional. Assuming players are safe: participating is itself a misdemeanour. Treating a CFTC designation or a sweepstakes model as a shield: the District of Utah rejected the first in 2026, and the fringe gambling definitions target the second. Citing the old section numbers 76-10-1101 onwards, replaced by 76-9-1401 onwards from 7 May 2025.
Online casino and online sports betting are prohibited in Utah, so no licence currently permits offering them. The licensing regime as recorded is set out below.
Utah has no dedicated gambling regulator.
Built from the record on this page, last verified 23 Sept 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.
Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 27
Utah Code Title 76, Chapter 9, Part 14, Gambling
Utah Horse Regulation Act (Utah Code Title 4, Chapter 38)
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (31 U.S.C. 5361 to 5367)
KalshiEX LLC v. Cox, No. 2:26-cv-00151 (D. Utah)
4 Aug 2026
Kalshi sought a declaration that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Utah's gambling laws as applied to its sports event contracts. Judge Robert J. Shelby granted the State summary judgment, holding that the Act does not preempt Utah's enforcement, and denied the preliminary injunction as moot. Kalshi appealed to the Tenth Circuit (No. 26-4100) on 5 August 2026 and moved for an injunction pending appeal, which the State opposed.
Summary judgment for the Governor and Attorney General in Kalshi's preemptive suit: the District of Utah held Utah's gambling laws can be enforced against Kalshi's sports event contracts. Kalshi appealed to the Tenth Circuit on 5 August 2026.
1 Jul 2012
Internet gambling expressly brought within the gambling prohibition (H.B. 108)
14 May 2019
Fringe gambling added to the gambling offences (H.B. 23)
28 Mar 2020
Fringe gaming machines prohibited, penalties raised and a private cause of action created (S.B. 214)
7 May 2025
Gambling offences recodified as Utah Code 76-9-1401 to 76-9-1412
23 Feb 2026
Kalshi sues the Governor and Attorney General in the District of Utah
25 Mar 2026
Governor signs H.B. 243 adding proposition bets to the definition of gambling
6 May 2026
H.B. 243 takes effect
4 Aug 2026
District court grants Utah summary judgment against Kalshi
5 Aug 2026
Kalshi appeals to the Tenth Circuit (No. 26-4100)
The Tenth Circuit appeal in KalshiEX v. Cox (No. 26-4100) is the main event to watch, together with Kalshi's request for an injunction pending appeal, which would decide whether Utah can act against sports event contracts while the appeal runs.
DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics have pulled sports contracts from Utah since the state charged Kalshi and its founders, and Fanatics is leaving altogether. The federal bid to stop the prosecution goes before the judge who has already ruled that Utah's gambling laws apply to Kalshi.
Two senators, one from each party, have asked the two largest US prediction markets to show how they keep insiders and manipulators out of election contracts, with answers due on the day of the midterms. The letter argues that catching a handful of candidates is not proof the markets are protected.
Kalshi has almost doubled its valuation in under six months with a $1 billion Series G co-led by Wellington and Sequoia. The round was announced a day after Utah filed felony charges against the exchange and both co-founders, and the company's pitch to investors leans on its business beyond sport.
Utah's attorney general has charged Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara with felony gambling offences built on 12 sports wagers placed by an undercover agent. The criminal case arrives two days after the CFTC sued Utah to stop its civil action against the exchange.
Seven weeks after it began routing football contracts to Crypto.com's exchange, Robinhood has told investors that the exchange will become its main second venue behind Rothera and that it will move off "most of our competitors". It owns a stake in both venues, and the Crypto.com exchange is the one suing Missouri and Utah.
Kalshi has sued Missouri, Polymarket has sued Louisiana and Crypto.com's exchange has sued Utah, all in federal court and none of them yet the target of a state lawsuit. The filings are a race for the forum, because once a state sues first in its own courts, pre-emption becomes a defence rather than a route into federal court.
The federal regulator has asked a Utah federal court to halt the state's gambling case against Kalshi and bar any future action against CFTC-registered exchanges. It is suing in a district that granted Utah summary judgment on the same question in August.
The Senate Commerce Committee chairman intends to file legislation after the 3 November midterms that would bar gambling-linked event contracts, sports included, unless a state or tribe authorises them, Bloomberg Law reports. No text, bill number or co-sponsor is public yet, and the window before this Congress ends is short.
Utah's Attorney General has sued five Kalshi companies and two Susquehanna firms in Salt Lake County, alleging that the market makers taking the other side of retail trades are gamblers and bookmakers under Utah law. A gaming lawyer calls it the first state enforcement action aimed at a prediction market's liquidity providers.
Source tiers. Tier 1: the law, official gazette, licence register or regulator itself. Tier 2: other official sources such as ministries, parliaments, courts and statistics agencies. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
The page notes that this section is superseded on 1 January 2027 if a replacement is approved by voters at the general election on 3 November 2026.
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Replaces the former Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 11, which the Code now shows as renumbered on 7 May 2025 and empty.
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah Department of Agriculture and Food
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
Utah State Legislature (le.utah.gov)
United States District Court for the District of Utah (RECAP copy of the filed order)
CourtListener (RECAP archive of PACER entries)
Docket entries are copied from PACER and may lag. As retrieved on 23 September 2026 (last updated 9 September) it showed the notice of appeal (Tenth Circuit No. 26-4100), Kalshi's motion for an injunction pending appeal and the State's opposition, and no ruling on that motion.
Office of the Utah Attorney General
U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov), United States Code 2023 edition