Missouri orders six prediction markets to halt sports event contracts

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has ordered Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Novig, Underdog and Robinhood to stop offering sports-related event contracts in the state unless they obtain sports-wagering licences.

The cease-and-desist letters, announced Sept. 18, contend that facilitating the contracts amounts to unlicensed sports wagering under Missouri law. The attorney general’s office said companies that continue without complying face state enforcement action.

The action targets a central claim of prediction-market operators: that their products fall under federal commodities regulation rather than state gambling rules. Missouri disputes that position, arguing that the Commodity Exchange Act does not pre-empt state law and that sports event contracts are bets rather than federally governed swaps.

Hanaway said Missouri voters had chosen a regulated market. “Companies cannot repackage sports bets as ‘event contracts’ to avoid Missouri law,” she said. Operators wishing to offer sports wagering in the state must be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission, pay required taxes and fees, and ensure that no one under 21 can bet.

Missouri approved Amendment 2 in 2024, creating its regulated sports-betting framework. The market launched on Dec. 1, 2025, allowing wagering through licensed online and mobile platforms and authorised in-person locations.

The state’s letters describe a 10% tax on adjusted gross revenue from in-state sports wagering. They also say an operator may face initial and five-year renewal licence fees of as much as $500,000. The tax and associated fees are directed to elementary, secondary and higher education, as well as the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund.

Missouri collected $11.8 million in sports-betting taxes during the first eight months of the legal market, according to KCTV5, citing the Missouri Gaming Commission. Prediction-market platforms do not pay the state’s 10% sports-betting tax, the station reported.

Age controls are another focus of the state’s action. The attorney general’s office said Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Underdog and Robinhood either permit underage access or lack adequate safeguards against Missourians under 21 participating in sports wagering. Novig was not included in that specific allegation.

The letter to Underdog says its website permits Missouri users aged at least 18 to wager. Kalshi’s letter similarly cites its member agreement as allowing 18-year-olds to place wagers, though Missouri law prohibits sports betting by those under 21 and places an affirmative duty on online operators to prevent it.

Robinhood and Polymarket rejected Missouri’s underlying legal position. A Robinhood spokesperson said its event contracts are federally regulated through Robinhood Derivatives, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered entity. Polymarket said its US business considers prediction markets subject to a federal CFTC framework rather than a patchwork of state rules.

The Missouri action follows a wider state-level challenge to prediction-market sports contracts. As we reported this month, Connecticut ordered nine platforms to halt sports event contracts and other unlicensed online gambling offerings to state residents.

Kalshi’s letter was dated Sept. 16 and Underdog’s Sept. 17. Each was asked to confirm compliance or cessation of Missouri sports-wagering activity within 30 days of its letter.