DeWine on Kalshi: "These Guys Are Pigs," and Ohio "Will Certainly Enforce the Law"

Ohio's governor has called prediction markets "really gambling, nothing more than that" and promised enforcement after the Sixth Circuit ruled for the state. The commission's proposed $5 million penalty against Kalshi has been pending since April, and Kalshi says the ruling will not survive further review.

• Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Monday 28 September that sports prediction markets "are really gambling, nothing more than that" and that "we will certainly enforce the law" against Kalshi, three days after the Sixth Circuit ruled 3-0 that Ohio can apply its gambling law to the company's sports contracts
• "If it's a pig, it's a pig. If we call that pig a sheep, it's still not a sheep. It's a pig. These guys are pigs," DeWine said, in remarks reported by News 5 Cleveland that evening and by the Statehouse News Bureau on 2 October
• The Ohio Casino Control Commission issued a notice in April of its intent to impose a $5 million civil penalty on Kalshi for unlicensed sports gaming, and Kalshi sued in state court in June, arguing that such a penalty can only be imposed in a forum with a jury
• Kalshi says it does not believe the decision "will survive further review"; News 5 reported that nothing on its website had changed by Monday evening, and on 2 October the commission sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 other prediction-market platforms (our report)
• Ohio's sportsbooks pay a 20% tax and serve only over-21s; the commission has already quit the national problem gambling council over Kalshi's funding

Ohio's Governor Says the Court Has Settled What Kalshi Is

Governor Mike DeWine spoke on Monday 28 September, three days after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Kalshi is unlikely to succeed in arguing that federal law shields its sports contracts from Ohio gambling law. He was speaking to News 5 Cleveland's Morgan Trau at an event also attended by Columbus Crew executive Mary Shepro, according to the station's report that evening. "These so-called prediction markets, which are really gambling, nothing more than that, they're just trying to get around the law, don't want to play by the same rules everybody else does," DeWine said.

In a fuller account published by the Statehouse News Bureau on Friday 2 October, DeWine added that the companies "don't want to be regulated by the state. And we think that's wrong," and that "they should have to abide by the same rules that everybody else has to abide by." Then came the line that has travelled furthest: "If it's a pig, it's a pig. If we call that pig a sheep, it's still not a sheep. It's a pig. These guys are pigs." The companies, he said, "don't want to pay anything. They just want to have a free ride. So we will certainly enforce the law."

DeWine, a long-standing opponent of gambling, said the state has been losing money to what he calls illegal operations, and that fairness means Kalshi paying the $5 million the commission is seeking and registering as a sportsbook like DraftKings or FanDuel, News 5 reported. Ohio's licensing process can cost upwards of $1 million, sports betting is taxed at 20% and customers must be 21; Kalshi, open to 18-year-olds, follows none of those rules and has said in court documents that complying could threaten its "viability", according to the station.

A Penalty Pending Since April, and a Jury Argument in State Court

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) told Kalshi in 2025 to stop offering sports contracts or seek a licence, and Kalshi sued the commission and Attorney General Dave Yost in federal court that October. On 14 April 2026 the commission announced a notice of its intent to impose a civil penalty of $5 million, saying, according to WTVG, that Kalshi's refusal to stop offering sports gaming in Ohio had forced it to act.

Kalshi then opened a second front. On 29 June it sued the commission in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, arguing that the state's attempt to impose a $5 million civil penalty through an administrative proceeding violates its right to a civil jury trial under the Ohio Constitution, and that the statute gives no "intelligible principle" for setting such a penalty, iGamingToday reported from the complaint.

The appeals court's decision on 25 September in KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler, No. 26-3196, affirmed Judge Sarah Daggett Morrison's refusal to grant Kalshi a preliminary injunction against the OCCC and vacated the injunction Kalshi had won in Tennessee. It recorded that "Kalshi does not currently comply with either State's gaming laws."

Kalshi Says the Ruling Will Not Last

In a statement carried by News 5, Kalshi spokesperson Dani Lever said: "We disagree with this decision and don't believe it will survive further review." She added: "Markets can't operate when the rules change at every state line, which is why Congress created a single federal regulator with nationwide rules." News 5 reported that, as of Monday evening, nothing on Kalshi's website had changed to comply with Ohio law. iGaming Times found no announcement since then of a withdrawal by Kalshi. The commission had, however, already acted: on 2 October it sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 other prediction-market platforms, as we report here.

The Ruling Changed Ohio's Leverage More Than Its Law

Kalshi never had an injunction in Ohio. Judge Morrison refused one, the commission served its penalty notice in April, and a Sixth Circuit motions panel declined to protect Kalshi pending appeal later that month. Last week's decision gives the state no new power; it adds a published opinion that rejects Kalshi's swap argument on the merits and binds the circuit's later panels. That leaves the Franklin County jury argument as Kalshi's main defence against the penalty itself. The test of the governor's words is whether the OCCC now moves its penalty proceeding forward, asks a court to stop the contracts, or waits for the Supreme Court.

"Pigs" Is a Political Register, but the Argument Underneath Is Fiscal

Ohio's licensed sportsbooks pay a 20% tax on revenue, are barred from serving anyone under 21 and go through a licensing process that can cost more than $1 million. Kalshi offers economically similar contracts on the same games without those costs, and has told a court that bearing them could threaten its viability. DeWine's "free ride" is a channelisation argument turned inside out: the worry is not players leaving for an offshore black market, but a federally registered exchange competing with licensed operators from outside the state's tax and age rules. If Kalshi's own account of its economics is right, Ohio's rules are not a compliance cost for it but a threat to the model.

Kalshi's Calendar Runs Through Cincinnati and Washington, and DeWine's Runs Out in January

Under the federal appellate rules, Kalshi has 14 days from the judgment, until 9 October, to ask the Sixth Circuit for rehearing, and the court's mandate would ordinarily issue seven days after that window closes. Kalshi has already sought rehearing in the Ninth Circuit's Nevada case, and its response to New Jersey's Supreme Court petition is due on 9 November. DeWine is term-limited and leaves office in January. Strong words do not enforce themselves; the commission, the Attorney General and the Franklin County court will decide whether Ohio's win becomes a penalty Kalshi pays or a position it outlasts.

Ohio has the appellate ruling it wanted and a governor who has said exactly what he thinks of the other side. What it has not yet announced is an enforcement step to match.

Update, 5 October 2026: An earlier version of this article said the Ohio Casino Control Commission had announced no new step since the Sixth Circuit ruling. It had sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 prediction-market platforms on 2 October, which were reported on 5 October. Our report on the letters has the details.