Kalshi threatens Netflix with defamation suit over doc trailer
Kalshi says Netflix’s The Prediction Games trailer misleads viewers about Nevada sports trades; Netflix says the key trade predates the order.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
Kalshi has threatened Netflix with a defamation suit over a trailer for The Prediction Games, an upcoming documentary about prediction markets that is set to premiere Sunday on the streamer.
The fight centers on footage from the trailer that shows traders in Las Vegas celebrating money they made on Kalshi from the recent World Cup final. Kalshi’s lawyers sent Netflix a cease-and-desist letter after a court order required the prediction market app to block sports-related markets in Nevada, according to CNN, which obtained the letter.
Kalshi says the trailer gives viewers the wrong impression. The letter claims the preview includes “misleading statements portraying trades being made on Kalshi in violation of a court order,” according to CNN.
The Nevada order followed a lawsuit brought by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Kalshi says it is complying with the order.
What is the Kalshi Netflix dispute about?
The dispute is about whether Netflix’s trailer suggests Kalshi trades were made in Nevada in defiance of a court order blocking sports-related markets there. Netflix told CNN the event shown in Las Vegas was filmed last weekend, but said the most prominent trade in the trailer was made in 2025, before any Nevada court order.
“The featured trader, with the trades on Spain, showed us a screenshot of his bet that was made in May 2025, prior to any Nevada court order,” a Netflix spokesperson told CNN.
Kalshi pushed back on that explanation. The company claimed the screenshot was “fabricated,” pointing to language such as “bet slip” that it says does not appear on Kalshi’s platform.
Kalshi avoids gambling terminology, according to the company’s position as described in the dispute. The app is regulated like commodity trading and is not legally treated as a gambling platform, though several states have filed lawsuits seeking to apply gaming laws to it.
Who appears in The Prediction Games?
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour appears in The Prediction Games, according to the reporting on the documentary. The film is scheduled to arrive on Netflix on Sunday.
The trailer dispute lands as prediction markets face growing scrutiny over how they present sports-related trading, particularly in states trying to enforce gambling rules. In Nevada, the court order specifically required Kalshi to block sports-related markets.
Netflix has not been reported to have pulled the trailer. Kalshi’s threat remains tied to the cease-and-desist letter and its allegation that the preview misleads viewers about compliance with the Nevada order.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.