Polymarket Michigan sports contracts end under deal with regulator

Michigan has now pushed four of the biggest prediction market operators out of sports. Under an agreement announced on Wednesday, Polymarket Michigan sports contracts will no longer be offered to new trades, and any open positions held by state residents must be closed by the end of Nov. 25, Eastern time.

What happened

The Michigan Gaming Control Board said QCX LLC, which does business as Polymarket US, agreed to the terms in a stipulation approved by the U.S. U.S. federal court for the western part of Michigan. In return, the state will not take enforcement action as long as Polymarket complies. Positions that customers do not close voluntarily will be closed by the company.

Polymarket had gone on the offensive first. It sued Michigan officials in federal court in March, but the court denied a temporary restraining order that month and a preliminary injunction in June. Its appeal is pending at the Sixth Circuit. On Sept. 10, the attorney general's office warned Polymarket it would sue if it did not stop offering sports contracts to Michigan residents.

Robinhood had already blinked. Polymarket's case was originally consolidated with Robinhood's, but Robinhood agreed to pull its sports contracts in the state last month, Legal Sports Report said, and the warning letter to Polymarket arrived one day later. Coinbase Financial Markets reached its own deal, and a state court issued a preliminary injunction against KalshiEX, according to the regulator.

"If you want to offer sports wagering to Michigan residents, you need a Michigan license," MGCB executive director Henry Williams said. Attorney General Dana Nessel said the state was "holding the national sports betting industry accountable to Michigan law."

Why it matters

The deal follows similar agreements with Coinbase and Robinhood and a state-court preliminary injunction against Kalshi, according to the regulator. Legal Sports Report noted that the same Sixth Circuit ruled in September that Ohio and Tennessee may enforce their gambling laws against Kalshi's sports contracts, a decision binding on federal courts in Michigan. That made Polymarket's odds poor, as our coverage of the Polymarket Ohio lawsuit showed.

The timing is awkward. Polymarket and Kalshi were just named partners of the NBA in the NBA prediction market deal. The retreat from Polymarket Michigan sports contracts shows how state-by-state enforcement can chip away at that business even while federal regulators back the platforms.

The settlement is narrow. It covers sports-related event contracts for Michigan customers only, so markets on elections, economics or crypto are unaffected. It also leaves the legal question open: Polymarket has not conceded that its contracts are gambling, and the Sixth Circuit appeal can still produce a ruling. But by agreeing to stop rather than wait, the company avoids the risk of state enforcement in the meantime. For Michigan traders, the practical effect is no new sports positions and a hard deadline to exit the ones they hold.

What's next

Michigan users have until Nov. 25 to close Polymarket Michigan sports contracts themselves, after which the company will close any that remain. Polymarket's Sixth Circuit appeal continues, and non-sports contracts are not covered by the deal. The terms are summarized in the MGCB announcement.