Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Casino Control Commission chair Thomas Stickrath signed the letters, which went to Polymarket, Novig, Underdog, Coinbase, ProphetX, Robinhood, Gemini Titan, WeBull, Plus500, and MooMoo Financial. Moreover, Kalshi wasn’t among the recipients this time, even though it’s the company that lost the underlying court case.
Now, operators have until October 16 to comply, and the commission warned that failing to do so could lead to civil penalties or fines equal to whatever money or property they’ve made from offering sports event contracts in the state. The OCCC’s letter argues that the companies are actually running unlicensed sports gaming, calling their activity a felony under Ohio law.
Governor DeWine explained:
“These so-called prediction markets, which are really gambling, nothing more than that, they’re just trying to get around the law, don’t want to play by the same rules everybody else does, and they don’t want to be regulated by the state. And we think that’s wrong.”
The notices follow a September 25 ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Kalshi’s sports contracts don’t qualify as swaps under federal law and that Ohio can enforce its own gambling rules against the company. Kalshi was already fined $5 million by Ohio back in April, with the state joining Michigan, Nevada, and Washington in restricting event contracts.
