Overview
Ohio moved within a week of winning at the Sixth Circuit. On October 2, 2026 the Casino Control Commission sent cease-and-desist letters to ten platforms and brokers: Underdog, Gemini, Coinbase, ProphetX, Novig, Robinhood, Polymarket US, Plus500, Moomoo and Webull. Each letter says that offering sports event contracts to people in Ohio without a sports gaming license violates the state’s sports gaming law and amounts to bookmaking, cites the Sixth Circuit’s September 25 decision in KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler, and demands that the recipient stop “offering, participating in offering, or facilitating” sports contracts in Ohio, including by routing orders to exchanges. Each must confirm compliance in writing within fourteen days, and the letters warn of administrative, civil, nuisance and criminal action. Robinhood’s letter reasserts a March 31, 2025 notice the Commission had held in abeyance while Kalshi’s case was on appeal.
Kalshi received no letter; it is already fighting the Commission over a $5 million fine. Underdog is also suing Ohio officials in federal court, where the Sixth Circuit decision binds the judge. (All ten letters read; each is signed by Interim Executive Director Andromeda Morrison.)
The October 16 deadline brought two responses on the record. Polymarket US sued Ohio officials in federal court that day, and on October 26 Robinhood Derivatives agreed to stop offering new sports event contracts in Ohio by November 2, in exchange for the Commission’s agreement not to enforce while the Sixth Circuit and Supreme Court appeals are pending (Robinhood’s quarterly report to the SEC). In early November the Commission told Legal Sports Report that Robinhood, Moomoo and Gemini no longer offer new sports contracts in Ohio and that Coinbase would stop on November 13; that is the regulator’s statement as reported by the press, not a filing.
On October 20 the Commission also turned to its own licensees and applicants, including sportsbooks, suppliers, fantasy operators, integrity monitors and testing labs. Its letter tells them to stop any services that support an unlicensed sports event contract offering in Ohio, naming market making, liquidity, integrity monitoring, data and technology services, and to confirm compliance by October 30, on pain of reopened suitability reviews and possible license action. A footnote says brokers comply if they block Ohio customers from sports contracts listed on exchanges.