Michigan judge blocks Kalshi sports markets for 14 days

On Monday, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie E. Aquilina issued a 14-day temporary restraining order that bars Kalshi from offering or facilitating sports event contracts to users located in Michigan. The order remains in effect until July 13 and includes a $120,000-per-day penalty for failing to implement the court-required geofencing.

The action follows a lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in March. The state contends that Kalshi’s sports-related contracts violate the Lawful Sports Betting Act by operating as unlicensed gambling products. Kalshi had sought to move the case to federal court; the Western District of Michigan granted the state's motion to remand and returned the dispute to state court, where the temporary order was entered.

The court required geofencing to prevent access to the contracts from within Michigan’s borders and specified the daily fine as a remedy for noncompliance. Geofencing uses technology to identify a user’s location and block access when the user is inside the state.

The legal dispute is part of a wider set of enforcement actions by multiple states against prediction market platforms. State authorities have argued that certain event contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting. The firms and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have argued in other filings that federal law governs these markets and that federal jurisdiction preempts state betting statutes. Both state and federal courts have been asked to resolve those jurisdictional differences.

Industry data show Kalshi’s trading volume has increased markedly in recent months, with more than $30 billion in volume reported in the most recent month, about a 79% rise from May. Other U.S. prediction market platforms have also reported higher activity during major sporting events such as the World Cup.

‘Our gambling laws exist to protect Michiganders from unlicensed, predatory operations, and failing to comply with them carries serious legal consequences,' Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote in a statement accompanying the court action.

Kalshi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The temporary restraining order will remain active until July 13, when the court may consider further relief or schedule additional hearings on the underlying lawsuit.