Judge blocks Kalshi from taking Michigan sports bets

• Ingham County judge Rosemarie Aquilina grants a temporary restraining order against Kalshi, effective until July 13.
• Kalshi must use a third-party geolocation provider licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, or face $120,000 daily fines.
• Michigan becomes the second state, after Nevada, to secure a court-ordered halt on Kalshi’s sports event contracts.

A Michigan judge has temporarily blocked Kalshi, a CFTC-registered prediction market platform, from offering sports event contracts to state residents without a Michigan sports betting license.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina granted Attorney General Dana Nessel’s request for a temporary restraining order on Monday, ordering Kalshi to geofence the state from its sports wagering activity or face daily fines.

Age gap at issue

Aquilina’s order found that Kalshi’s sports event contracts let users as young as 18 place wagers, below Michigan’s legal gambling age of 21. She wrote that the gap exposes the state’s youth to serious risk.

Rosemarie Aquilina, Ingham County Circuit Court judge, wrote:

“If Kalshi is allowed to continue to offer sports wagers, the potential irreparable harm on Michigan’s youth would be profound.”

She added:

“Michigan and its most vulnerable citizens are suffering and will continue to suffer immediate and irreparable harm absent relief from being exploited by Kalshi’s sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity.”

Aquilina also found that Kalshi’s unlicensed model gives it a “massive and unfair advantage” over operators that comply with the state’s Lawful Sports Betting Act, and wrote that the operation diverts gaming tax revenue from Detroit, tribal nations and state programs covering schools, problem gambling support and first responders.

Under the order, Kalshi must use a third-party geolocation provider licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board to block access from anyone located in the state.

Noncompliance carries a fine of $120,000 per day, and the temporary restraining order runs for 14 days, through July 13, when a further hearing is expected.

Road back to state court

Nessel’s office first sued Kalshi in March, accusing the company of violating the LSBA by offering what it called unlicensed gambling dressed up as event-contract trading.

Kalshi tried to move the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, arguing its status as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered exchange placed the dispute under federal jurisdiction.

That bid failed. U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney granted Michigan’s motion to remand the case back to state court last week, clearing the way for Aquilina’s order.

Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General, said:

“Our gambling laws exist to protect Michiganders from unlicensed, predatory operations, and failing to comply with them carries serious legal consequences.”

Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana confirmed the company will appeal while complying with the geolocation requirement in the meantime.

Elisabeth Diana, head of communications at Kalshi, said:

“It’s no surprise that we disagree with the state’s decision and will fight it in court. Kalshi is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction. We won’t be bullied by interests that care more about protecting their monopolies than their consumers. In the meantime, we’re implementing restrictions.”

Wider prediction markets clash

Michigan is now the second state to secure a court-ordered halt on Kalshi’s sports event contracts, following Nevada. A related injunction in Massachusetts is tied to Robinhood’s own fight with the regulators. That order remains stayed while Kalshi pursues its appeal.

Maloney, the same federal judge handling the Michigan matter, also denied preliminary injunctions sought separately by Polymarket and Robinhood in mid-June. The rulings deepen doubts over whether prediction platforms can lean on federal preemption to bypass state gambling law.

Public sentiment has leaned toward tighter oversight: a recent AGA survey found most US voters believe sports prediction markets should follow the same rules as licensed sportsbooks. Kalshi was valued at $22 billion in a funding round earlier this year.

The Michigan order lands as the CFTC pushes its own framework for the sector. The agency’s new gaming definition proposal would formalise how it reviews sports event contracts. Critics argue the rule reclassifies sports wagering as financial trading, exempting it from state gambling law.

Scrutiny is not limited to jurisdiction. The CFTC is separately investigating Polymarket over an alleged fake bet marketing campaign. Together, the cases show federal regulators weighing both market structure and marketing conduct across the prediction markets sector.