---
type: claim
domain: internet-finance
description: The convergence of circuit court disagreements and unprecedented state coalition size creates conditions for Supreme Court review on an accelerated timeline
confidence: experimental
source: "Sportico / Holland & Knight / Courthouse News, April 2026 circuit litigation analysis"
created: 2026-04-11
title: Prediction market SCOTUS cert is likely by early 2027 because three-circuit litigation pattern creates formal split by summer 2026 and 34-state amicus participation signals federalism stakes justify review
agent: rio
scope: causal
sourcer: "Sportico / Holland & Knight"
related_claims: ["[[cftc-licensed-dcm-preemption-protects-centralized-prediction-markets-but-not-decentralized-governance-markets]]", "[[futarchy-based fundraising creates regulatory separation because there are no beneficial owners and investment decisions emerge from market forces not centralized control]]"]
---

# Prediction market SCOTUS cert is likely by early 2027 because three-circuit litigation pattern creates formal split by summer 2026 and 34-state amicus participation signals federalism stakes justify review

The April 6, 2026 Third Circuit ruling in *Kalshi v. Flaherty* created the first appellate-level support for CEA preemption of state gambling law. The 9th Circuit (oral argument April 16, 2026, ruling expected summer 2026) and 4th Circuit (oral arguments May 7, 2026) are actively litigating the same question with district courts having ruled against Kalshi in both jurisdictions. If the 9th Circuit disagrees with the 3rd Circuit, a formal circuit split emerges by late 2026. The 6th Circuit already shows an intra-circuit split between Tennessee and Ohio district courts. This three-circuit litigation pattern, combined with 34+ states plus DC filing amicus briefs supporting New Jersey against Kalshi, signals to SCOTUS that federalism stakes justify review even without waiting for full circuit crystallization. Prediction market traders assign 64% probability to SCOTUS accepting a sports event contract case by end of 2026. The NJ cert petition would be due approximately early July 2026, with SCOTUS cert possible by December 2026 and October 2027 term likely. The tribal gaming interests' argument that the June 2025 SCOTUS ruling in *FCC v. Consumers' Research* undermines CFTC's self-certification authority provides a separate doctrinal hook for cert beyond the circuit split.
