Ohio lawmakers and regulators are both trying to rein in prediction markets, and the platforms are brushing off both.
Sen. Bill DeMora wants them regulated like sportsbooks, while most of the 10 companies ordered to halt sports contracts kept them running past Friday’s deadline.
The Sixth Circuit’s Sept. 25 ruling against Kalshi cleared the way for Ohio to enforce its gambling laws against prediction markets. The Ohio Casino Control Commission wasted no time, sending cease-and-desist orders to 10 exchanges and brokers earlier this month.
“This decision solidifies that prediction markets are not exempt from Ohio law, and that they need to be regulated the same way other sports betting companies are,” DeMora, a Columbus Democrat, said in a statement last week. “With the rise of prediction markets in Ohio and across the country, this is not a partisan issue; it is one that needs to be addressed immediately.”
DeMora has introduced two bills, but there is little time to get them passed by the end of session on Dec. 17, and bills do not roll over to 2027. SB 430 would classify sports event contracts as sports betting, subjecting them to the same state regulations as sportsbooks. SB 479 would ban election contracts.
Details on Demora’s bills
DeMora said in his statement last week that Ohio is “losing out on tens of millions of dollars every month by not regulating these sites.” He introduced SB 430 in April, but it is still awaiting sponsor testimony in committee.
The bill would expand Ohio’s definition of sports gaming to include trading sports event contracts on prediction markets. That would bring the platforms under existing sports betting requirements, including licensing, the 20% tax and a minimum age of 21. Most prediction markets allow users as young as 18.
SB 479 would make election betting illegal gambling, covering both prediction market platforms and the individuals who trade election contracts. It also has not received sponsor testimony since it was introduced.
Operators not complying with C&Ds
Prediction markets had until last Friday to confirm to the OCCC that they had shut down their sports markets, after receiving cease-and-desist orders on Oct. 2. According to News 5 Cleveland, “most platforms were still up and unchanged” as of the end of business Friday.
The 10 companies that received orders:
- Coinbase
- Gemini Titan
- Moomoo Financial
- Novig
- Plus500US
- Polymarket
- ProphetX
- Robinhood Derivatives
- Underdog Predict
- Webull Financial
LSR reached out to the OCCC, the attorney general’s office and several of the platforms for an update but did not receive a response by publication.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told the local news that “it’s clear this is gambling” and that the “attorney general of Ohio is taking the action that he needs to take.”
Atty. Gen. Andy Wilson told the outlet that the platforms “need to come into compliance, or we’re gonna force them into compliance.”
