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Caesars Sportsbook is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by the Cayuga Nation over mobile sports wagers allegedly accepted from users on tribal land in New York.
The motion to dismiss was filed Aug. 17 in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York. The Cayuga Nation sued in June, alleging Caesars accepted wagers from customers physically located within its 64,015-acre reservation between January 2022 and July 2025.
Cayuga Nation says wagers on reservation violated IGRA
According to the complaint, the tribe argues those wagers violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA. The source says IGRA treats sports betting as Class III gaming and bars that activity on tribal land without a federally approved tribal-state compact.
The Cayuga Nation is seeking damages, disgorgement of profits, and records showing how much Caesars made from bets allegedly placed within the reservation. It also claims Caesars advertising suggested its products were available throughout New York without clearly addressing reservation restrictions.
The tribe says it sent Caesars a cease-and-desist letter in 2025. Caesars later agreed to geofence its offerings to prevent access on tribal land, but the parties still disagree over what happened before those changes.
Caesars says any dispute belongs with New York regulators
Caesars argues IGRA does not give the Cayuga Nation a viable claim against a private operator in these circumstances. In its filing, Caesars said: “If the Nation is correct that New York’s framework is inconsistent with IGRA, then its dispute is with New York and its regulators.”
The operator also said New York regulators instructed licensed sportsbooks to determine where a wager occurs by referencing the operator’s servers rather than the bettor’s physical location. Caesars says its servers were not located on Cayuga Nation land.
The company has also said it tightened geofencing in the area, though the source says Caesars refused to provide records on the number of transactions within the reservation and the revenue generated.
What New York bettors should watch
For New York players, the immediate issue is not a change to sportsbook availability but a court fight over where an online wager legally takes place. The case could shape how geofencing, tribal land restrictions, and state mobile betting rules are viewed in similar disputes.
The next key question is whether the federal judge will dismiss the case or allow it to move forward.
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Source: As reported by gamblingnews.com.
