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The Cayuga Nation has filed a lawsuit against Caesars Entertainment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, accusing the company of running online sports betting on tribal lands without authorization.
The federally recognized tribe argues that Caesars Sportsbook violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by accepting wagers inside the boundaries of its reservation.
In its complaint, the Nation stated: “Despite clear statutory mandates, Defendant conducted gaming within the Reservation without the Nation’s authorization, approval of a Tribal-State compact, or oversight by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) or the Secretary of the Interior, as required by IGRA.”
The filing further alleges that Caesars used applications and servers licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission to process bets from individuals physically located on Cayuga lands.
According to the Nation, this activity undermined its exclusive jurisdiction over gaming granted under IGRA and “deprived the Nation of the governmental and economic benefits Congress intended IGRA to secure.”
Caesars went back on cease-and-desist agreement, tribe claims
The Cayuga Nation claims Caesars continued to take wagers on its lands for more than three years, from January 2022 through July 2025, despite being warned to stop.
According to the lawsuit, the company also broke advertising rules by promoting its mobile sportsbook as legal throughout New York State, even though bets placed within reservation boundaries fall under tribal jurisdiction.
The Nation says it sent Caesars a cease‑and‑desist letter on June 20, 2025. A month later, Caesars allegedly agreed to install geofencing measures to block wagers coming from inside the reservation.
But the tribe argues that Caesars failed to follow through fully. The complaint states the company refused to provide a detailed account of its betting activity and the revenue generated from wagers placed on Cayuga lands, ignoring a request included in the cease‑and‑desist notice.
Ho-Chunk v. Kalshi cited
In its complaint against Caesars, the Cayuga Nation leaned on a recent case from Wisconsin to strengthen its argument.
The filing directly referenced Ho‑Chunk Nation v. Kalshi, where a federal judge in May allowed tribal claims under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to move forward against Kalshi’s sports‑related event contracts.
The Cayuga Nation pointed to that ruling as evidence that IGRA gives tribes “an enforcement mechanism to prevent gaming from being conducted on Indian lands that is not authorized by a Tribal‑State compact.”
It even went further to raise a false‑advertising claim under the Lanham Act. It accused Caesars of misleading customers by promoting its sportsbook as available “everywhere within the State, without geographic restriction,” while failing to disclose that mobile betting is not lawful on Cayuga lands.
The tribe is seeking damages, disgorgement of profits, and other relief under both IGRA and the Lanham Act, underscoring the seriousness of its challenge.
Source: SBC America
