TLDR
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says the state will take legal action against prediction market operators that offer sports contracts.
- The Ohio Casino Control Commission has sent cease-and-desist notices to Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood.
- A federal court ruled that Kalshi must follow Ohio law, and the company is challenging the decision.
- Two state bills would ban election contracts and treat sports event contracts as taxable gambling.
- Gambling harm experts warn that prediction markets let 18-year-olds trade, while Ohio’s sports betting age is 21.
Ohio is preparing to take further legal action against prediction market operators that offer contracts tied to sports. Governor Mike DeWine said the products break the state’s gambling laws.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission has already sent cease-and-desist notices to several companies. These include Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood.
DeWine said the state will move toward enforcement rather than relying only on warnings. He questioned why these platforms should offer sports-related bets without meeting the same rules as licensed sportsbooks.
Ohio Points to Its Existing Gambling Rules
Ohio has banned some types of sports betting since 2005. One example is betting on specific plays within a game.
State officials say these limits can apply to contracts on certain sporting events. They say this is true no matter how the platforms describe their products.
DeWine has also raised concerns about prediction market advertising, which he has seen during sporting events. He said the platforms are trying to avoid state oversight by operating under a different set of rules, according to The Statehouse News Bureau.
The central question is whether federal regulation allows prediction markets to sidestep state gambling laws. Kalshi says its event contracts fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not state gaming regulators.
A federal court recently ruled that Kalshi must comply with Ohio law. The company has challenged the ruling, arguing that federal oversight should take priority.
The outcome could decide how far states can go in limiting sports-related contracts on federally regulated platforms.
Bills and Consumer Protection Concerns
Two bills in the Ohio Legislature could tighten the state’s approach. Senate Bill 479 would ban betting on elections and stop prediction market sites from offering election contracts.
Senate Bill 430 would treat sporting event contracts as sports gambling. That would bring them under state regulation and taxation. So far, neither bill has gained much traction.
Gambling harm experts have also joined the debate. In September, Derek Longmeier of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio warned that prediction markets could expose younger adults to gambling.
Users can start trading on these platforms at age 18. The legal age for traditional sports betting in Ohio is 21.
Longmeier said people aged 18 to 25 are especially at risk because online trading is easy. He added that this group is also more likely to chase past losses.
The issue has also affected ties between regulators and problem gambling groups. Last September, the Ohio Casino Control Commission cut ties with the National Council on Problem Gambling after the group accepted a donation from Kalshi.
The council has said that accepting funding does not mean it endorses a company’s products.
The latest push follows DeWine’s October 5 warning that Ohio would use its gambling laws against Kalshi. The governor now says the state is ready to go after more operators that offer sports-related contracts.
