Four More Firms Agree to Drop Ohio Sports Contracts as Five of 10 Hold Out

Robinhood, Gemini and Moomoo have stopped new sports event contracts for Ohio customers, and Coinbase follows on 13 November. The terms differ firm by firm, and they land as the federal regulator tells exchanges that state geofencing breaches its rules.

• The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) told Legal Sports Report on 5 November that Moomoo Financial, Robinhood and Gemini no longer offer new sports event contracts in Ohio, and that Coinbase has agreed to stop as of 13 November
• With Plus500US, which the commission said was in compliance on 21 October, five of the 10 recipients of its 2 October cease-and-desist letters have now complied or agreed to
• Polymarket and Underdog are suing the commission, and it is still in discussions with Novig, ProphetX and Webull
• Robinhood says it agreed on 26 October to stop new Ohio sports contracts by 2 November in return for the commission holding off enforcement while appeals are pending
• The concessions sit awkwardly with the CFTC's 5 November interpretation that exchanges generally may not restrict access by US state

Ohio's Letters Have Now Moved Half Their Recipients

The OCCC wrote on 2 October to Coinbase, Gemini Titan, Moomoo Financial, Novig, Plus500US, Polymarket, ProphetX, Robinhood Derivatives, Underdog and Webull Financial, ordering each to stop offering sports event contracts to people in Ohio and confirm it within 14 days. The letters rested on the Sixth Circuit's 25 September ruling that Ohio may enforce its sports gaming law against Kalshi.

On Thursday 5 November the commission told Legal Sports Report that Moomoo, Robinhood and Gemini "no longer offer new sports event contracts in the state", according to the report published on 6 November and carried by CDC Gaming. Coinbase "has agreed to stop offering them as of November 13", the report said. It did not say when Coinbase agreed or what happens to its customers' open positions, and no agreement text has been published.

Polymarket and Underdog are suing the commission, the report said, while the OCCC "continues discussions with the remaining three companies", Novig, ProphetX and Webull. Kalshi was not among the 10: its challenge to a proposed $5 million penalty runs separately in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

The Terms Are Not the Same

Robinhood's quarterly filing for the period to 30 September says Robinhood Derivatives agreed on 26 October to cease offering new sports-related event contracts in Ohio by 2 November, in exchange for the commission's agreement "to refrain from enforcing its state gaming laws during the pendency of" pending appeals, according to a 6 November newsletter by the law firm Troutman Pepper Locke that quotes it. Robinhood's event contract restrictions page now says that "As of November 2, 2026, Ohio residents can't open new sports event contracts". It applies a position-closing-only restriction, under which existing positions can still be closed.

Gemini told Ohio customers by email on 23 October that from 6 November Gemini Titan "will no longer offer sports-related event contracts to customers in your location", NEXTPredict reported. According to that report, positions still open after 6 November are held to settlement, and Ohio customers keep non-sports contracts, their funds and Gemini's other products. Moomoo's terms have not been made public.

The OCCC has also told its own sportsbook and supplier licensees to stop serving unlicensed platforms, with a footnote clearing brokers that block Ohio customers. It declined to tell Legal Sports Report how licensees had responded, citing the investigative nature of the request.

These Are Standstills, Not Surrenders

Robinhood's deal repeats the pattern Michigan set: stop new contracts, and the state holds off while the courts decide. It concedes nothing on the merits and lasts only as long as the appeals. Robinhood lets Ohioans close positions, Gemini holds them to settlement, and in Michigan Robinhood and Coinbase closed positions outright. Ohio has accepted different exits in exchange for the same result, an end to new sports exposure.

The Brokers Folded First

Three of the four are brokers routing orders to exchanges such as Kalshi, although Robinhood also co-owns the Rothera exchange; Gemini Titan is itself a designated contract market. Brokers operate in many states and can drop one at little cost. The firms still resisting are mainly exchanges or exchange owners, Polymarket, Underdog, Novig and ProphetX, with Webull the exception. The commission's real test is the five that have not moved.

Washington Now Says the Opposite

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's interpretation says exchanges must end domestic geographic restrictions within 30 days or explain why they cannot, and should ensure intermediaries are not blocking states. Gemini's halt took effect the day after it was issued, and Coinbase's falls a week later. An agreement with a state regulator is the kind of explanation the CFTC left room for, but it hands Polymarket, which has sued Ohio under the Commerce Clause, and the remaining firms a federal argument for holding out.

Ohio has halved the field without a court order against any of these firms. Whether the other half follows depends less on the commission's letters than on what the courts and the CFTC do next.