Novig, backed by Sydney Sweeney, sues Missouri AG over event-contract classification
Prediction market company Novig, backed by actress Sydney Sweeney, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block Missouri from classifying its business model in a way that would restrict its operations. The suit targets the Missouri attorney general and follows state action chastising firms for engaging in unlicensed sports betting under the auspices of sports event contracts. The sources do not name the specific classification at issue or the legal grounds for Novig's challenge.
Novig joins a crowded Missouri federal docket where CFTC-registered platforms are fighting state gambling enforcement. Crypto.com is already pressing a parallel Missouri case, and Novig's suit tests whether federal courts there will reject the state-gambling framing that cost Kalshi preemption in Ohio and Tennessee.
A Novig loss would validate that framing for a second Missouri platform and deepen the patchwork forcing operators to geofence state by state. The company has the revenue to fund sustained litigation. Its celebrity backing draws press attention that rivals lack, but it cannot slow the template effect alone. The first Missouri ruling will set the compliance bar that every competitor races to clear.
Novig follows Crypto.com and Underdog into federal court against state attorneys general, adding to the platform-side pushback after Kalshi lost preemption in Ohio and Tennessee and is now petitioning the full Sixth Circuit for rehearing.