Washington

The Washington picture is defined by two concurrent threads rather than a single development. The Washington State Gambling Commission reached tentative agreements with the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation to amend their Class III compacts and add in-state collegiate sports wagers, implementing SB6137's 2026 amendment of RCW 9.46, with a Commission vote scheduled for 15 October 2026 on whether to forward the amendments to the Governor. Separately, litigation against event-contract platform KalshiEX LLC continues: the King County Superior Court's amended injunction barring a defined set of event-contract categories remains in force, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of a stay before Kalshi sought rehearing. A card-room surveillance rulemaking also reached the final-action stage at the Commission's mid-October meeting. None of these threads had a confirmed outcome at the point this material was compiled.

Washington's Class III gaming licensing runs through tribal-state compacts negotiated under RCW 9.46.360, with the Washington State Gambling Commission as the state's compacting authority. The Commission reached tentative compact amendments with the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation to add in-state collegiate sports wagers, implementing the 2026 amendment of RCW 9.46 made by SB6137. The amendments exclude wagers on an individual athlete's performance or non-performance enrolled at a Washington college and on in-game or officiating decisions, and bar persons convicted of threats against officials, coaches or participants. A Commission public vote on whether to forward each amendment to the Governor was scheduled for 15 October 2026; that outcome was not confirmed in the material reviewed. Until the vote, gubernatorial signature, and (for federally recognised tribes) Federal Register publication occur, the amendment remains a proposed instrument rather than a change to the standing licensing position.