This much is clear: gambling is illegal in Utah.

In fact, Utah and Hawaii are the only two states in the U.S. to have completely banned all forms of gambling.

However, that hasn’t stopped gambling companies from operating in what they consider a legal gray area.

Prediction market company Kalshi tried to settle the question earlier this year when it preemptively sued Utah, alleging that the federal government’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission has authority over the markets Kalshi runs.

Essentially, Kalshi argued it is subject to federal — not state — law. Kalshi and other prediction markets claim event contracts are financial “swaps” sanctioned by the trading commission.

In August, a federal judge ruled for the state in its case against Kalshi, further advancing Utah’s ability to regulate prediction markets in the state. In response, Kalshi appealed the decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

But what about companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks and other prediction market or daily fantasy operators?

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown considers all of those to be illegal.

“Since statehood, Utah’s constitution has prohibited gambling. That prohibition covers in-person and online gambling. Sports betting marketed as a prediction market or anything else is still sports betting. And it is still illegal,” Brown said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Yet these companies remain active in the state.

If you turn on the radio, it likely won’t be long before you hear a DraftKings ad. And consumers can still “predict” the outcome of sports and other events with a couple of taps on their phones.

The topic has taken on added interest in Utah after an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke out against gambling and prediction markets during the faith’s 196th Semiannual General Conference.

So how are these companies still operating in Utah? The Tribune spoke with several experts to answer that question.

What the experts say

In Utah, DraftKings, FanDuel and PrizePicks allow users to participate in prediction markets and daily fantasy contests.

But that doesn’t mean those users aren’t gambling, according to gaming law expert Rich Trachok.

“Across the country, even though the statutes may be worded slightly differently, gambling is where you have a wager, and you are wagering on an outcome which is determined by chance in order to win a prize,” Trachok, a UC Berkeley law lecturer and senior counsel with McDonald Carano, told The Tribune. “If you have those three [things], I don’t care; it’s still gambling.

“The prediction markets are gambling; you have to wager on an outcome that is determined by chance. It’s not skill-involved in order to win a prize.”

Fellow gaming lawyer Dennis Gutwald agrees with Trachok.

Gutwald is a partner in McDonald Carano’s Gaming & Administrative Law Practice Group and served as an agent in the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Investigation Division for seven years.

“They do [operate], but I don’t think they are allowed to,” he said. “I think the law prohibits it, but the [Attorney General] will determine that. If they’re doing something beyond where they’re accepting money that’s being risked and falls in the realm of gambling. … Then they’re in violation of Utah law.”

Gutwald said DraftKings, FanDuel and other similar platforms “hop into jurisdictions with a very loose interpretation of the law, and make money at it and get inroads.”

He added: “If at some point the regulators speak up, then they may quit.”

The Utah Legislature addressed gambling during the 2026 General Session with House Bill 243, which updated Utah’s gambling laws to address proposition betting.

“This is a good example of the law adapting to changes in technology and the ways people engage in gambling,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement to The Tribune.

However, Gutwald noted that it can take time for regulators to prosecute the companies. Even then, he said, these companies haven’t faced huge consequences when lawsuits do arise.

“The states are taking action against them, and prediction markets are appealing that action in federal court, saying that we’re subject to federal laws, not state laws,” Gutwald said. “And sometimes they’ve won, and sometimes they’ve lost.”

Gutwald believes the Supreme Court will ultimately settle the matter. In the meantime, though, consumers who use prediction markets don’t have any real protections.

“There’s not less protection. There’s no protection,” said Trachok. “If you bet in Nevada, whether you’re betting on sports betting or online sports betting, which you can do within the state, there’s a lot of protection.

“There are a lot of rules and regulations that go into this. … It looks to me that DraftKings is trying to shoehorn in as a [prediction market] because it’s registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a prediction market, and all of that is nonsense.”

There’s another wrinkle, too: Those who use the platforms may also find themselves in legal trouble.

“As for individual cases investigated by law enforcement and referred to our office, we will screen those cases based on the facts and applicable law, just as we do with other criminal matters,” Gill said.

A Latter-day Saint apostle condemns prediction markets and gambling

During the church’s most recent General Conference, Latter-day Saint apostle D. Todd Christofferson warned listeners that “gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing.”

“Its structure requires that any gain comes at others’ expense,” he said. “It’s hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.”

Christofferson specifically mentioned prediction markets and highlighted an article by Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins about the dangers of sports betting.

“Simply put,” he said, “the gambling industry’s entire business model is built on its customers losing money. That’s not the foundation of legitimate investment markets.”

Utah law appears to agree.