Polymarket US sues Louisiana over event-contract enforcement

QCX LLC, which does business as Polymarket US, has sued Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and state gaming officials in federal court, seeking to block the state from enforcing its gambling laws against the platform’s event contracts.

The complaint, filed Oct. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, is QCX LLC v. Murrill et al., case No. 2:26-cv-02482. It also names Dawn Himel, director of the attorney general’s Gaming Division, and Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Chris Hebert.

QCX argues that the Commodity Exchange Act pre-empts Louisiana’s threatened enforcement and that the state’s approach violates the Commerce Clause. Its complaint characterises its markets, including sports markets, as “swaps” under the federal commodities statute.

The company says Louisiana’s sports-wagering licensing system is not a workable alternative. The state’s 20 licences initially go to in-state riverboat, racetrack and casino licensees, QCX argues, while a licensed operation would have to operate from Louisiana and serve only people within the state.

The case centres in part on a Gaming Control Board advisory warning regulated operators away from sports event contracts and other event-based products. The complaint refers to an advisory dated Dec. 5, 2025; the board’s published release is dated Dec. 10, 2025. In that release, the board said it regarded purported sporting-event contracts and certain other event contracts as illegal gambling under the Louisiana Criminal Code and Gaming Control Law.

The board warned that direct or indirect involvement could affect the suitability of licensees, permit holders and associated people. Its notice applied to prediction markets, platforms and event-based contracts linked to future events, sports events or values in Louisiana and elsewhere.

Louisiana laws that took effect in August provide for penalties for illegal gambling. WAFB reported that companies found to be engaged in illegal gambling could face fines of up to $100,000 and prison terms of up to five years per wager, along with potential website takedowns and frozen bank accounts.

QCX’s filing adds Louisiana to the widening court fight over whether states can apply gambling rules to event contracts offered on federally regulated exchanges. Earlier this month, as we reported, QCX brought a comparable federal challenge to Ohio’s sports-contract licensing rules.

KalshiEX filed a separate suit against Louisiana officials on Oct. 23. Federal district courts have reached differing conclusions in earlier Kalshi litigation: courts in Nevada and New Jersey found that federal commodities law pre-empted state gaming rules, while a Maryland court declined to issue a preliminary injunction after concluding that the statute did not necessarily displace state gambling and sports-wagering laws.