Polymarket US will cease offering sports event contracts in Michigan and all sports positions on the prediction market platform will be closed out by “the end of the day” on Nov. 25, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) announced Wednesday.
Polymarket is the fourth prediction market that the MGCB has taken enforcement action against this year.
The regulator won a state-court preliminary injunction against Kalshi earlier this year, though it says the company is violating that order by advertising to Michigan residents. Kalshi, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel, “has elected to thumb its nose at the Court” by advertising. Kalshi has responded to the state’s concerns and a hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court is set for Nov. 24.
Coinbase Oct. 7 agreed to stop offering its sports event contracts and planned to close out any open positions by Oct. 10. Robinhood was the first to stop offering sports event contracts, agreeing to do so Sept. 9. Positions were set to be closed out Oct. 9.
Regulators and attorneys general in Michigan, Nevada, and Washington have successfully won court decisions to keep prediction market sports event contracts out of their states.
AG holding national operators ‘accountable’
In exchange for halting the contracts and closing out any positions customers did not, the state agrees not to take further enforcement action against Polymarket.
“One by one, from Kalshi to Robinhood and Coinbase, and this latest agreement with Polymarket, we’re holding the national sports betting industry accountable to Michigan law,” Nessel said via press release. “Alongside the MGCB, we’re protecting Michigan residents by ensuring gaming in our state occurs in licensed and regulated ways, and under the protections and safeguards afforded by the law.”
Polymarket US initially sued Michigan in federal court in March, and the court ultimately denied Polymarket US’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Polymarket US has appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which in September ruled that regulators in Ohio and Tennessee could enforce their gambling laws against prediction market sports event contracts. Circuit court rulings extend to all states in a circuit, and Michigan is in the Sixth Circuit.
In prediction market court cases with states across the U.S., the Sixth and Ninth Circuits have found in favor of states while the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi. The state of New Jersey in September filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court to ask it to consider the case.
