Polymarket Agrees to Close Michigan Sports Contracts While It Fights Ohio

Polymarket US has become the fourth prediction market to stand down on sports in Michigan, under a stipulation approved in the federal court that refused it an injunction in June. It is conceding a state where its appeal sits before the circuit that has already ruled against Kalshi, while it carries its fight to Ohio and Louisiana.

• QCX LLC, which trades as Polymarket US, has agreed to stop offering new sports-related event contracts to Michigan customers and to close remaining positions by the end of the day on 25 November, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) announced on 28 October
• The agreement is a stipulation and order entered on 27 October in Polymarket's own suit against Michigan officials in the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan, under which the state will not take enforcement action while the company complies
• It follows similar court-approved deals with Robinhood and Coinbase, and a state court injunction against Kalshi
• Polymarket's appeal against the denial of its preliminary injunction remains before the Sixth Circuit, which on 25 September ruled that Ohio and Tennessee may enforce their gambling laws against Kalshi
• The stipulation's text was not on the free public record on 29 October, and reports of the announcement carried no statement from Polymarket

Polymarket Becomes the Fourth Prediction Market to Stand Down in Michigan

The MGCB said on 28 October that Polymarket US had agreed to stop offering new sports-related event contracts to Michigan customers and to close out all remaining positions by the end of the day on 25 November, according to reports of the announcement by Gaming Intelligence and CDC Gaming. In exchange, the state agreed not to take enforcement action against the company so long as it remains in compliance.

The federal docket shows a proposed stipulation and order filed on 26 October in QCX, LLC v. Nessel (No. 1:26-cv-00710), and a stipulation and order entered by District Judge Paul L. Maloney on 27 October. The defendants are Attorney General Dana Nessel, MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams and the members of the board. The announcement, as reported, covers sports-related contracts only and does not say what happens to Polymarket US's other markets in Michigan.

The board described the deal as part of its action against "sports wagering products disguised as federally regulated prediction markets", according to Gaming Intelligence. "If you want to offer sports wagering to Michigan residents, you need a Michigan license," Williams said. Nessel said the state was "holding the national sports betting industry accountable to Michigan law".

A Suit That Polymarket Has Lost at Every Stage So Far

Polymarket filed its suit on 4 March 2026, seeking to stop Michigan from enforcing its gambling laws against its exchange. Maloney refused a temporary restraining order in March, according to Gaming Intelligence, and denied a preliminary injunction on 17 June; Polymarket appealed the same day, according to the docket. The district case has been stayed since 5 August pending that appeal. In the Sixth Circuit (No. 26-1552), briefing closed with the state's brief on 16 September, and a 2 July order said Polymarket's appeal and Robinhood's would go to the same panel on the same day.

Robinhood stopped new sports contracts in Michigan on 9 September and closed positions by 9 October; Coinbase did both by midnight on 10 October. Kalshi is under an Ingham County preliminary injunction that carries a penalty of $500,000 a day. CDC Gaming reported that the MGCB now says Kalshi is breaching that order by advertising to Michigan residents, with a hearing set for 24 November. The board first said it was investigating unlicensed sports prediction markets in April 2025.

The Sixth Circuit Has Already Written Michigan's Answer

The 25 September ruling for Ohio and Tennessee binds the federal courts in Michigan and, as a published opinion, the panel that will hear Polymarket's appeal. Polymarket's Michigan appeal asks a panel to reach the conclusion its own court rejected for Kalshi. Stepping back costs Polymarket its Michigan sports business for now; carrying on risked the kind of enforcement Kalshi faces.

Polymarket Is Choosing Where to Fight

The same week, Polymarket US sued Louisiana's attorney general, and on 16 October it sued Ohio, leading with a Commerce Clause claim the Sixth Circuit has not decided rather than pre-emption. That makes the Michigan concession look tactical. Louisiana sits in the Fifth Circuit, which has not ruled on the question, while in the Sixth Circuit the company is fighting on new ground in Ohio and settling in Michigan, where its case rests on pre-emption.

The stipulation's text will show how long Michigan's forbearance lasts and whether, like Coinbase's, it ends when the appeals are finally resolved. Until then, Michigan has removed four prediction markets' sports contracts without a final ruling on the merits.