Polymarket Pulls Sports Contracts From Michigan

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) announced on October 28, 2026, that QCX LLC, operating commercially as Polymarket US, executed a binding legal stipulation to cease offering sports-related event contracts to Michigan residents. The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced the deal on Wednesday, October 28, calling it the latest step against “unlicensed operators offering sports wagering products disguised as federally regulated ‘prediction markets.'”

The settlement represents the fourth major enforcement action executed by Michigan regulators against retail prediction market exchanges in 2026, establishing a comprehensive regulatory blockade against unlicensed sports-based event contracts within the state.

What the Stipulation Says

The terms are set out in a stipulation approved by the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Polymarket US will stop selling new sports-related contracts in the state, and any position a Michigan resident still holds when the November 25 deadline passes will be closed for them. In exchange, the state has agreed not to take enforcement action against the company “so long as the company remains in compliance.”

The deal covers sports-related event contracts only, which is the product the board says amounts to unlicensed sports betting. If you hold a sports position on Polymarket US in Michigan, you have until that Wednesday night, Eastern time, to close it yourself.

The Regulator and the AG Line Up

Henry Williams, MGCB executive director, said Polymarket “joining Kalshi, Robinhood, and Coinbase in stepping back from these unlicensed sports contracts shows that Michigan’s approach is working.” He added, “If you want to offer sports wagering to Michigan residents, you need a Michigan license.”

Attorney General Dana Nessel framed it as a sequence. “One by one, from Kalshi to Robinhood and Coinbase, and this latest agreement with Polymarket, we’re holding the national sports betting industry accountable to Michigan law,” she said.

Polymarket Lost the First Round in Court

The legal surrender follows a series of procedural losses for prediction market operators seeking federal judicial protection. Polymarket US initially filed a federal lawsuit against Michigan state officials in March 2026, alleging that as a platform operating under federal derivatives oversight, state gambling statutes were preempted by the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

On June 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney denied Polymarket’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The court ruled that short-duration sports outcome contracts do not satisfy the statutory definition of a “swap” under CEA Section 1a(47) (7 U.S.C. § 1a(47)), leaving state police powers over sports gambling fully intact.

The Sixth Circuit Backdrop

Polymarket’s pending appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit faces an insurmountable legal barrier. On September 25, 2026, a Sixth Circuit panel issued a binding ruling in KalshiEX LLC v. Yost, holding that the CEA does not field-preempt state gaming statutes regarding sports-event wagers. That precedent binds all federal district courts across Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, effectively forcing prediction exchanges to settle state enforcement actions or face summary injunctions.

How the Other Three Left

Kalshi was first, and it did not go quietly. Nessel sued KalshiEX LLC in Ingham County Circuit Court in March under the Lawful Sports Betting Act, won a temporary restraining order in June and secured a preliminary injunction announced on September 2. That order requires Kalshi to geofence Michigan, and the attorney general’s release puts the penalty for a violation at $500,000 per day.

The fight with Kalshi is not over. In a September 29 motion, the state asked Judge Rosemarie Aquilina to hold Kalshi in civil contempt, alleging sports promotions kept reaching Michigan residents after the injunction, and a show-cause hearing is set for November 24, the day before Polymarket’s deadline.

Robinhood and Coinbase Settled Faster

Robinhood’s Michigan agreement came on September 9. Robinhood Derivatives agreed to stop offering new sports contracts by the end of that day and to close remaining positions by October 9. Coinbase followed on October 7, agreeing to stop new contracts and wind down open positions by midnight Eastern time on October 10. Coinbase’s deal also covers contracts traded on KalshiEX and other designated contract markets through its app, the MGCB said.

Both agreements left the legal question open. The board said the Coinbase stipulation “does not resolve the underlying legal dispute” over whether Michigan may regulate CFTC-registered event contracts as gambling, and preserves both sides’ positions until the Sixth Circuit or the US Supreme Court rules. It’s the same question behind New York’s lawsuit against Polymarket and the Nevada cases involving Coinbase and Kalshi.

The Licensed Market Keeps Growing

Michigan’s regulated online market is not short of business. In September, commercial and tribal operators reported $355.7 million in combined iGaming and online sports betting gross receipts, and online sports betting handle reached $544.8 million, up 64.9% from August, according to the MGCB. Thirteen licensed operators offer online sports betting in the state.

The board has been just as busy with offshore sites. On October 8 it sent cease-and-desist letters to 33 offshore operators offering casino games, sweepstakes-style games or sports betting without a state license.

With Polymarket’s signature, Michigan now has agreements or court orders halting sports-related event contracts from Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase and Polymarket.