Missouri AG Hanaway says prediction markets owe sportsbook taxes
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Wednesday that prediction markets offering sports contracts should pay the same taxes and face the same regulations as licensed sportsbooks. Her office is examining Kalshi and Robinhood platforms over whether sports event contracts fall under state gaming tax regimes. The statement frames prediction market sports products as equivalent to traditional sports betting and calls for parity in oversight.
Hanaway's tax parity push adds Missouri to the map of states rejecting CFTC registration as a shield for sports-linked contracts. Kalshi and Robinhood now face a parallel state gaming tax inquiry alongside their existing legal fights in Nevada and Connecticut. Any finding that sports event contracts owe sportsbook taxes would impose state licensing costs that CFTC designation was designed to bypass.
The timeline here is legislative and administrative, not judicial — Missouri could move by rulemaking instead of waiting for courts. That multiplies the fronts where prediction markets must defend their cost structure. A tax ruling here would embolden other states with gaming deficit gaps to follow the same playbook, compressing margins for every platform that lists sports outcomes.
Hanaway joins a growing roster of state attorneys general — Connecticut, Nevada, and Baltimore among them — treating CFTC-registered event contracts as gambling products subject to state gaming taxes.