DraftKings moves Seminole Tribe's Florida lawsuit to federal court, saying its exchange acts under the CFTC
DraftKings, its prediction-market subsidiary GUS III LLC and CEO Jason Robins removed the Seminole Tribe of Florida's lawsuit from Broward County Circuit Court to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 9, 2026. The 29-page notice of removal relies mainly on the federal officer removal statute. It argues that DraftKings' CFTC-designated exchange, Railbird Exchange, does regulatory work the CFTC would otherwise do itself. It also calls the case "retaliatory."
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Overview
- Filing: Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1, entered November 9, 2026, in the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division (No. 0:26-cv-63156). No judge was listed on the filing.
- Removed case: The Seminole Tribe of Florida v. DraftKings, Inc., Broward County Circuit Court No. CACE-26-016435, filed October 8, 2026.
- Main ground: 28 U.S.C. § 1442, the federal officer removal statute. DraftKings says its contract market acts "under" the CFTC.
- Other grounds: federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1362, based on the Commodity Exchange Act and on tribal sovereignty and the 2021 Compact.
- Timing: the notice says DraftKings was served on October 15, 2026, and that all three defendants consent to removal.
DraftKings has pulled the Seminole Tribe of Florida's lawsuit over its Florida prediction-market and fantasy products out of state court.
In a notice of removal entered on November 9, 2026, DraftKings Inc., GUS III LLC (d/b/a DraftKings Predictions) and Jason Robins moved the case from the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County (No. CACE-26-016435) to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The federal docket is No. 0:26-cv-63156. The Tribe filed its complaint on October 8.
The federal officer argument
The lead ground is 28 U.S.C. § 1442, which lets a "person acting under" a federal officer or agency move a case to federal court. DraftKings argues that designated contract markets are self-regulatory organizations that police trading "under the CFTC's oversight." It says the Tribe's suit "targets functions" that its exchange, Railbird Exchange, LLC, performs. According to the filing, the CFTC designated Railbird in June 2025, DraftKings bought it in October 2025, and trading began in June 2026.
The defendants also claim federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1362. They argue that each of the Tribe's claims depends on whether the Commodity Exchange Act authorizes the event contracts, and that the case also turns on tribal sovereignty and the 2021 Compact, which is a creation of federal law.
The notice calls the suit "retaliatory." It says the Tribe sued three weeks after DraftKings joined a state-court challenge to the Compact on September 17, 2026, and that the Tribe "has sued DraftKings and no other" company even though "at least a dozen" offer event contracts and fantasy sports in Florida. Gunster, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass signed for the defendants. The Tribe can still ask the federal court to send the case back to state court. Related cases are listed in AskSpinner's prediction-market litigation tracker, and state-by-state rules are covered in Is Polymarket legal?.
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Andrea Rivera explores the evolving world of iGaming through the companies trying new things and the markets taking shape around them. An editor at AskSpinner News, Andrea combines research with storytelling, bringing information and perspective to industry analysis without losing the story that makes it worth reading. AskSpinner News desk standards, corrections policy and contact: AskSpinner News desk (https://askspinner.com/news/askspinner-news-desk).
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