What Arkansas’s Kalshi and VGW Lawsuits Mean for Partners

By Andrew R. Jacobs, Esq. | Founder & Managing Attorney, Jacobs Counsel LLC | Director, Sports, Entertainment & Gaming Initiatives, Seton Hall University School of Law | Super Lawyers Rising Star 2026

If you process payments for a platform or promote it to customers, start with what your company actually does in Arkansas. The state’s lawsuits against Kalshi and VGW both challenge how the operators describe their products to consumers. That makes the payments, promotions and other services behind those products worth a closer look.

Why these cases are taking different paths

Arkansas filed both suits on November 4. In Independence County, it alleges that Kalshi misled consumers about an unlicensed event-contract business (No. 32CV-26-717). In White County, it alleges that VGW and related companies used a dual-currency model to disguise casino gambling (No. 73CV-26-1743). Both complaints allege deceptive trade practices and unjust enrichment and seek restitution, penalties and injunctions. Kalshi’s complaint expressly asks for unpaid taxes. VGW’s alleges past sales and use tax nonpayment and separately requests disgorgement.

On November 12, the U.S. and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a separate federal suit seeking to block Arkansas from applying state law to transactions on federally regulated exchanges. That challenge puts federal preemption at the center of the Kalshi dispute. The VGW case concerns how its sweepstakes products work and how they were marketed. These filings present the parties’ positions, and the outcomes remain open.

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What payment providers, affiliates and vendors should review

Arkansas’s consumer protection law prohibits knowingly helping a violation continue. A separate provision can make a person who controls or helps a violator share liability for penalties and money judgments if that person knew or reasonably should have known the facts behind the violation. For a vendor, the first questions are what activity it supported and what information it had about the activity.

• Know what your work enables. Identify the transactions, redemptions, game access or Arkansas-facing promotions your company supports.
• Review what customers are told. Check claims about legality, free play and cash redemptions against how the product works.
• Find the rights you would need. Review who can suspend services or promotions, what records you can access, and which party bears defense and indemnity costs.

Jacobs Counsel advises on sweepstakes and social casino compliance under New York, New Jersey and Ohio law. Arkansas-specific questions should go to counsel admitted there.

Sources

Arkansas’s Kalshi complaint · Arkansas’s VGW complaint · Federal complaint, No. 4:26-cv-01255 · Ark. Code § 4-88-107 · Ark. Code § 4-88-113

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