The Cayuga Nation has filed the first known lawsuit by a tribe against a state-licensed sportsbook operator, alleging Caesars accepted mobile wagers from within its New York reservation for more than three years without authorization under federal gaming law.
The Cayuga Nation of New York filed a federal lawsuit on June 16 against American Wagering, Inc., which operates as Caesars Sportsbook, alleging the company accepted mobile sports wagers from individuals physically located within the Nation’s reservation in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, names a wagering period running from January 8, 2022, when New York’s mobile betting market launched, through July 15, 2025. The Nation argues that Class III gaming, the category covering mobile sports betting, cannot lawfully occur on its lands absent a tribal-state compact approved under IGRA and overseen by the National Indian Gaming Commission, neither of which it holds with New York State.
The Cayuga Nation holds a federally approved Class II gaming ordinance but has not entered into a Class III compact with New York. Its complaint contends that the location of a wager is determined by the bettor’s physical position rather than the operator’s server location, an interpretation that, if upheld, would require sportsbooks to geofence around tribal land boundaries in addition to existing state-line geofencing.
According to the filing, the Nation sent Caesars a cease-and-desist letter on June 20, 2025. Caesars responded the following month, agreeing to implement geofencing around the reservation, but the Nation alleges the company later declined a request for a full accounting of wagering activity and revenue generated from bets placed within its boundaries. The Nation is seeking damages, disgorgement of profits, an accounting of revenue, and a declaration that Caesars’ mobile sportsbook operations on the reservation were unlawful.
The complaint also raises a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act, alleging Caesars marketed its sportsbook as available throughout New York State without disclosing restrictions applicable to tribal land.
Cayuga Nation representative Clint Halftown said in a statement announcing the suit that the Nation “will not hesitate to take action against any operator that violates the federal law and the Nation’s sovereignty.”
Wider Legal Context
The complaint cites the recent Ho-Chunk Nation v. Kalshi ruling in the Western District of Wisconsin, in which a federal judge found the tribe had stated a valid claim under IGRA against the prediction market operator, though the court rejected a parallel Lanham Act claim in that case. Kalshi and other prediction market operators are not named as defendants in the Cayuga filing.
The lawsuit is the second active IGRA-related action brought by the Cayuga Nation against a New York gaming entity. A separate suit against the New York State Gaming Commission, concerning lottery terminal sales on tribal land, survived a motion to dismiss last year and remains pending in the same court.
Caesars Entertainment had not issued a public response to the lawsuit at the time of publication. A first judicial conference in the case is scheduled for September 16.
The litigation arrives as Caesars Entertainment is the subject of a proposed $17.6 billion acquisition by Fertitta Entertainment, announced in May and pending shareholder and regulatory approval.