EndGame: The Week Included News Of Prop Bets, AI

The U.S. sports betting world moves quickly and unpredictably in 2026. In order to properly take stock of it all, we offer InGame’s “EndGame,” an end-of-week compilation of the top storylines, some overlooked items, and all the other news bits from this past week that we found interesting.

Indiana regulator declines college prop ban

The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) voted unanimously Thursday against imposing a ban on college prop bets tied to player performance, despite an ask from the NCAA. Commissioners said the decision on whether to ban college player props lies with the legislature. Indiana already has a prohibition on in-game college player props. The issue initially came before the IGC in June, and the proposed ban was supported by three major Indiana universities — Butler, Indiana, and Purdue.

“This is a legislative question,” Commissioner L. Scott Prejic said during the meeting. “Come Jan. 1 they could put a bill in front of the governor’s desk and prohibit it, it’s that easy. I would defer to them.”

The NCAA has asked states across the U.S. to ban the props, stressing the threat of harassment of players by losing bettors. Nearly 20 U.S. jurisdictions prohibit college player props, with some doing so from launch and others such as Louisiana responding to the NCAA’s plea.

— Jill R. Dorson

Massachusetts examining AI use

Always one of the most vigilant regulators when it comes to sportsbook operator practices, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is now looking into their use of artificial intelligence to target losing gamblers. Quartz reported on the commission’s plans in the wake of an investigative report in The New York Times about how DraftKings was using AI without seeming to regard the potential it had to impact problem gamblers.

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The MGC’s concerns, intending to examine practices of all licensed sportsbooks, were outlined at a commission meeting Thursday. “These AI technologies are evolving rapidly across our society, and we share the concern over their application,” commission Chairman Jordan Maynard said.

The Quartz report said that Massachusetts already bars operators from delivering promotions via any automated system that “is known or reasonably expected to heighten a gambling platform’s addictive qualities.”

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission today announced it will evaluate each of its licensed online sports betting operator's use of artificial intelligence and how the technology affects promotions, customer acquisition, and responsible gaming. https://t.co/N7lDtzd75F
— RLinnehanSR (@RLinnehanSR) September 24, 2026

NCPG defends Kalshi partnership

In the wake of criticism and membership cancellation from multiple regulators and affiliates, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) reacted this week by insisting its relationship with Kalshi does not mean it endorses prediction markets or ignores their potential for creating addiction-related issues.

The council’s board president, Derek Longmeier, issued a public letter Tuesday maintaining the NCPG’s neutrality as it pertains to all forms of gambling — including prediction markets — while defending its reliance on financial support from operators to accomplish goals related to education and treatment.

“NCPG exists not to litigate whether prediction markets or other emerging activities meet a legal definition of gambling, but to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm wherever it occurs,” the letter stated, while noting “donor engagement does not mean endorsement” or enable a contributor like Kalshi to influence policy.

Regulators in Ohio and Michigan and problem gambling advocacy groups in Nevada and Washington state have withdrawn their participation in the NCPG in the months since the national group created a new membership category for Kalshi when it committed to a $2 million donation.

Kalshi, New Mexico tribes await decision

Attorneys representing Kalshi presented oral arguments in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico Wednesday seeking to dismiss a case involving three New Mexico tribes and their request for a preliminary injunction that would keep Kalshi from offering its sports event contracts on tribal land.

In previous filings, Kalshi argued that it is not party to — and therefore not bound by — the tribes’ compact with the state. The company maintains the Commodities Exchange Act, the federal law governing the contracts, preempts tribal law. The Mescalero Apache Tribe, Pueblo of Isleta, Pueblo of Pojoaque, and Pueblo of Sandia say being a private company does not prevent Kalshi from being bound by tribal law on Indian land.

The case is one of three brought by tribes against Kalshi in an effort to keep the wagering-like trades off their lands. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 overturned a district court decision and ruled that Kalshi could not offer its product on two California reservations. More than 35 national tribal organizations and tribes signed an amicus brief in support of the Mescalero Apache case. Blue Lake Rancheria and Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, the California tribes in court with Kalshi, and Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation, which also sued Kalshi, also plan to file amicus briefs, per the court docket.

— Jill R. Dorson

Odds and ends

The Colorado Division of Gaming has opened a comment period on a proposed rule that would eliminate free-bet promotional deductions. The state’s Limited Gaming Commission will consider the rule at a meeting Oct. 15. The rule, to be retroactive to July 1, would bring regulations in line with a legislative change made earlier this year that ends the deductions.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins maintains the company is “in a good position either way” when it comes to the legal outcome of the prediction markets fight. That’s how he put it in a fireside chat with Wells Fargo Tuesday in which he stated DraftKings has double-digit market share in its active sports prediction states, according to an SBC Americas report. The company is not part of ongoing litigation over sports event contracts that is likely headed to an ultimate U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Kalshi’s latest filing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is a request to offer leverage on event contracts, allowing a trader to borrow money instead of having event contracts entirely collateralized. CNBC reported on the filing that Kalshi submitted Tuesday, seeking to extend to event contracts a practice already prevalent on Wall Street for stocks and futures. The article stated, however, that a Kalshi spokesman said sports event contracts would be excluded from such margin opportunities.