Missouri targets prediction markets over sports wagering
- Missouri’s attorney general has ordered prediction-market operators to stop offering sports event contracts deemed unlawful under state law.
- The action names platforms including Crypto.com, Novig, Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood.
- The dispute centres on whether sports event contracts fall under state gambling laws or federal derivatives regulation.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has issued cease-and-desist letters to six prediction-market operators over sports event contracts.
The letters target Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Novig, Underdog and Robinhood for offering sports contracts to Missouri residents.
“Companies cannot repackage sports bets as ‘event contracts’ to avoid Missouri law,” according to Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway.
Hanaway argues these products constitute unlicensed sports wagering and require approval from the Missouri Gaming Commission.
The state has warned that operators face enforcement action unless they stop offering sports event contracts or obtain the required licences.
Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in 2024, legalising regulated sports betting and assigning oversight to the Missouri Gaming Commission.
The state’s framework sets a 10% tax on sports betting gross receipts and requires operators to prevent anyone under 21 from wagering.
The dispute sets Missouri’s sports wagering rules against prediction-market operators’ efforts to offer event contracts under a different regulatory framework.
