Missouri AG orders six prediction markets to halt sports event contracts
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway sent cease-and-desist letters to six prediction market operators on Friday, September 18: Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Novig, Underdog, and Robinhood. The order demands they stop offering sports event contracts in the state, declaring that operators cannot use the event-contract structure to circumvent Missouri gambling law. The action against both regulated and unregulated platforms marks a new front in state-level enforcement.
The Missouri order lands just days after Connecticut targeted nine platforms, proving that state attorneys general are coordinating their timing rather than waiting for federal clarity. Polymarket, Kalshi, and the four others named must now choose between immediate geofencing or betting that a federal court will block the state. Underdog is already suing Connecticut to test that exact bet.
Each new state that files before the Supreme Court answers New Jersey's petition narrows the window for a unified defense. Legal spend compounds across parallel cases faster than any single ruling resolves. Traders face a widening patchwork where identical contracts are legal in some states and banned in others, fragmenting liquidity before federal courts catch up.