Ohio governor plans further legal action against prediction markets

Governor Mike DeWine has signaled that Ohio intends to take enforcement action against additional prediction market operators that list sports-related contracts, describing those products as violations of state gambling law. According to The Statehouse News Bureau, the governor made clear that the state's response will involve enforcement rather than warnings alone. Cease-and-desist notices have already gone out from the Ohio Casino Control Commission to multiple firms, among them Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood.

The governor wants to know why platforms offering sports-related bets are not held to the same standards that apply to licensed sportsbooks. Since 2005, Ohio law has prohibited certain forms of sports betting, among them wagers on individual plays inside a game. According to state officials, those limits can reach agreements tied to particular sporting events regardless of how a platform labels its offerings. DeWine has additionally voiced concern about prediction market advertising he has encountered during sporting events, and he contends that these platforms operate under a separate regulatory framework in an effort to escape state oversight.

Kalshi maintains that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), rather than state gaming regulators, oversees its event contracts. A recent federal court ruling held that the company must follow Ohio law, and Kalshi has appealed that decision on the grounds that federal supervision should take precedence. How far states may go in restricting sports-related contracts from federally regulated platforms could ultimately be settled by this legal battle.

Lawmakers in Ohio have put forward two measures that would alter how the state handles these products. One, Senate Bill 479, would prohibit wagers on elections and stop prediction market sites from listing election contracts. The other, Senate Bill 430, would classify sporting event contracts as sports gambling so that state regulation and taxation apply to them. To date, neither bill has advanced far in the legislature.

These events trace back to DeWine's October 5 warning that Ohio would use its gambling laws against Kalshi. Derek Longmeier of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio cautioned in September that prediction markets may draw younger adults into gambling, since users can begin at 18 while traditional sports betting in the state requires an age of 21. According to Longmeier, people between 18 and 25 face particular risk, both because trading online is so simple and because they tend to chase losses.

Last September, the Ohio Casino Control Commission severed ties with the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) after the council accepted a donation from Kalshi, according to the report. The NCPG has said that taking funding from a company does not amount to an endorsement of its products.