A Nevada judge extended the ban on prediction market Kalshi from offering sports contracts in Nevada for another 14 days, adding that he plans to issue a preliminary injunction sought by the Gaming Control Board once the language is finalized.

According to Reuters, Carson City District Court Judge Jason Woodbury said during a hearing Friday afternoon that Kalshi's wording for a contract on sports — the term prediction markets use to describe the business — was "indistinguishable" from placing a bet at a state-licensed Nevada sportsbook.

In a statement issued late Friday, Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said he was "pleased" with the decision, adding the agency would continue to "vigorously enforce Nevada law."

He previously told The Nevada Independent that "prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public."

The next legal arena between Nevada and prediction markets will be at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 16 in San Francisco, which has scheduled hearings involving the control board's lawsuits against Kalshi and two other prediction market operators, Crypto.com and Robinhood Derivatives.  

In a separate case Monday morning involving New Jersey, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of Kalshi, which could prevent the state from regulating the prediction market. More than 20 states have various legal challenges involving prediction market companies.

Kalshi and other companies have long argued they are federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and not subject to Nevada's regulatory process. Polymarket, Coinbase and Robinhood exited or restricted their event contract offerings in Nevada under regulatory pressure.

Kalshi, which had halted offering prediction market contracts on sports within Nevada borders last month after Woodbury issued a temporary restraining order, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday's court proceedings.

After the initial ruling, Kalshi said in an email to customers that the situation was unprecedented. 

"We disagree with those restrictions, but as a law-abiding company, we're following them," the company said. As of Monday morning, Nevada customers on the Kalshi site were met with a message that the sports, entertainment and elections markets were not available to Nevada customers. 

Nevada is the only state with an active, court-enforced ban against Kalshi. Arizona filed 20 criminal misdemeanor charges in March for allegedly accepting unlicensed wagers on sports and elections. Also on Friday, a federal judge held a hearing on Kalshi's efforts to dismiss the charges.

Florida-based gaming attorney Daniel Wallach, who has been closely following the nationwide battle between states and prediction markets, wrote on X Friday that Nevada is now the only state with a court-enforced, in-effect ban against Kalshi.

"If [other] states had retained outside counsel and/or filed suit first in state court rather than sending [cease and desist] letters to Kalshi, there likely would not be any sports-event contracts today," he wrote.

Wallach expects other states may soon take legal action mirroring Nevada's effort against prediction markets.