Underdog joins Crypto.com, Novig and Kalshi in Missouri injunction fight
Underdog sued Missouri on November 8 to block state enforcement against sports event contracts, joining Crypto.com, Novig and Kalshi in federal court. All four platforms have filed motions for preliminary injunctions. The coordinated challenge follows Missouri's crackdown on event contracts tied to sporting outcomes. Separately, Robinhood and Coinbase pulled sports event contracts from Ohio after a regulator secured compliance on November 9.
The four-way Missouri challenge tests whether collective federal action can succeed where Kalshi's solo Sixth Circuit defense failed. Each platform that sued — Underdog, Crypto.com, Novig and Kalshi — bets that a united front will persuade judges to treat CFTC registration as a federal preemption shield against state gambling law.
The opposite playbook is already playing out in Ohio, where Robinhood, Coinbase, Gemini and Moomoo complied with state orders and abandoned the product line. Missouri's outcome will signal which strategy other platforms should copy: litigate or retreat. The fighters' odds dropped after a Second Circuit panel refused to pause state enforcement against Kalshi and Coinbase elsewhere. Every new state settlement weakens the litigation argument that registration alone blocks gambling charges.