THE BREAKDOWN
Welcome back to Court Vision.
The U.S. Senate passed the biggest college sports bill in a generation. Kalshi is getting different answers in different courts. Discord tries again on age verification.
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Let's get into it.
🏀 FAST BREAK
1. Federal NIL Bill Passes Senate
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A federal bill addressing some of the top issues in college sports passed the U.S. Senate.
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The bill, from Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell, would set a federal NIL standard, cap agent fees at 5%, guarantee ten-year post-eligibility scholarships, protect women's and Olympic sports rosters, and create pooled media-rights negotiation similar to the pro leagues.
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Momentum for the bill comes at a time where NIL projections are higher than ever.
Here's the part that doesn't make the celebratory headlines: the House already left for recess and isn't back until November 9. That's a 42-day window where the furthest-advanced college sports bill in Congressional history just sits there.
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My take: a Senate vote is not a law. It's a really good pitch deck for a law. If you're an athlete, school, or collective planning around any provision in this bill, specifically the agent fee cap or the media-rights structure, you're planning around something that can still die in a House that hasn't even scheduled a hearing. Watch what happens the week of November 9, not today. That's when this bill either has a pulse or doesn't.
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[Free resource: Check out our free NIL guide here.]
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2. Kalshi is Winning in Some Courts and Losing in Others
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You may have heard of Kalshi, or at least seen its ads. The company operates a prediction market where users can trade contracts based on whether certain events will happen, including the outcomes of sporting events. Kalshi argues these are federally regulated financial contracts, not traditional sports bets, which means federal commodities law should take priority over state gambling laws.
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The problem? Courts aren't agreeing on that argument.
In April, the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi and blocked New Jersey from shutting down its sports contracts, finding that federal regulators likely have exclusive authority over them.
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But the Ninth Circuit has gone the other way. In August, it ruled that Nevada could enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi. Then, in September, it allowed a lawsuit brought by two California tribes challenging Kalshi's sports contracts on tribal lands to move forward.
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My take: Kalshi is making essentially the same federal argument across the country but getting different answers depending on the court. Until those disagreements are resolved, companies relying on federal law to override state gaming restrictions shouldn't assume a victory in one part of the country applies everywhere. Where you operate still matters.
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⚖️ COUNSEL’S CORNER
Your vendor’s breach is your problem too.
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A hospitality group just got sued because a hotel chain it works with got hit by ransomware and sat on the notification. The lawsuit isn't just about the breach. It's about the delay.
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If you handle guest data, customer records, or anything with a Social Security number attached, your vendor contracts need two things most people skip: a defined notification deadline if the vendor gets breached, and a right to audit their security practices before you're relying on them blind. A slow notification turns a vendor's bad week into your own lawsuit.
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👀 COMPANY TO WATCH
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k-ID (Singapore)
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k-ID builds age-verification and compliance infrastructure for gaming and social platforms, classifying users across 200-plus jurisdictions and managing parental consent where the law requires it. Clients listed on its own site include Discord, Bandai Namco, Konami, Capcom, and Snap.
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Why I'm watching: age assurance is becoming required infrastructure for any platform with users under 18 anywhere in its footprint. The companies building the compliance layer are quietly becoming as load-bearing as the payment processor. If your platform touches minors in any jurisdiction, you don't get to decide this is optional anymore. Some regulator has already decided for you.
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📝 FINE PRINT
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This issue's clause: governing law and revenue.
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This is the clause that decides which state's law applies to your contract and which court you have to show up in if it goes wrong. Everyone treats it as the last line before the signature block. It's actually deciding your legal odds before the dispute even starts.
Three questions before you sign:
Does the governing law match a state whose statutes actually favor your position, or did the other side pick their home turf?
Is venue mandatory in a specific court, or can either side sue wherever they want?
Does the clause cover the whole relationship, or just the written contract, leaving gaps for related disputes?
Push for a governing law and venue you'd actually want to litigate in. As the Kalshi story above shows, the same facts can win in one court and lose in another.
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🕑 WORTH YOUR TIME
Discord rolls out a new age assurance system. It automatically classifies most users as adults or teens using account signals, adding stronger protections for teens while leaving the adult Discord experience largely unchanged.
Fortune: Even in the era of NIL, college sports are stacked against student athletes. Now lack of transparency is holding them back from a ‘fair market’
That’s the issue.
Forward this to the founder who thinks a favorable ruling in one state means they're covered everywhere. They're not, and the next state over is where they'll find out.
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👋 I'm Drew Jacobs, founder and managing attorney at Jacobs Counsel. We're the firm for founders, athletes, creators, and gaming companies building in the AI age. Full business, brand, and wealth protection. Senior judgment on every matter, AI-augmented workflows, fixed fees whenever the work allows. The law firm of the future, for the work you need done today.
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Licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. This newsletter is general information, not legal advice.