The Ohio Casino Control Commission has ordered ten prediction market operators to cease accepting wagers on sports events in the state. Coinbase, Robinhood Derivatives, Polymarket's US entity, Underdog, Gemini Titan, ProphetX, Novig, Plus500US Financial Services, Moomoo Financial and Webull Financial must confirm by 16 October that they have stopped offering contracts to Ohio residents.
The action follows a 25 September ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in KalshiEx LLC v. Schuler. The court held that the Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt Ohio sports-gaming laws. Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote that state betting laws do not regulate exchanges directly but create incidental effects — insufficient grounds for federal preemption.
'The Sixth Circuit ruling provides clarity: contracts on sports events fall under Ohio gambling law. The commission demands an immediate halt to illegal activity,' said OCCC acting executive director Andromeda Morrison. She added that such wagers lack protections for young and vulnerable groups that state law requires.
None of the ten hold an Ohio licence. Kalshi is absent from the list; the state is already litigating against it. Robinhood previously argued its contracts are swaps subject to federal oversight. By contrast, a federal court in Illinois recently sided with Kalshi, recognising the contracts as swaps and questioning the applicability of state gambling law. Non-compliance may draw administrative, civil or criminal penalties.
