A Michigan court has temporarily blocked prediction market platform Kalshi from offering sports event contracts to residents of the state, adding another chapter to the growing legal battle over sports-related prediction markets in the United States.
According to a court filing released on Monday, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina issued a temporary restraining order requiring Kalshi to stop offering sports event contracts to Michigan residents for 14 days. The order is scheduled to remain in effect until July 13.
The judge also warned that Kalshi could face fines of $120,000 per day if it fails to comply with the state’s geolocation requirements designed to prevent Michigan residents from accessing the contracts.
In her ruling, Judge Aquilina stated that Michigan residents could suffer harm if they participate in what she described as a sports betting operation being presented as an investment product.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in March by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. The lawsuit argues that Kalshi’s sports event contracts violate Michigan’s sports betting laws because they operate similarly to gambling products without the required state licenses.
Earlier this month, Kalshi attempted to move the dispute into federal court, but a judge rejected that effort and returned the case to Michigan’s state court system.
Michigan is not the only state challenging prediction market platforms. Nevada previously secured a temporary court order restricting Kalshi’s sports event contracts, while Kentucky recently filed lawsuits against Kalshi, Polymarket, and several other prediction market companies over similar concerns.
The legal fight is now expanding across the country, with more than a dozen states taking action against prediction market operators.
At the center of the dispute is a major disagreement over who has the authority to regulate these products.
State regulators argue that sports event contracts function much like traditional sports betting and should therefore fall under state gambling laws. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintains that federally regulated event contracts are financial products that fall under federal oversight rather than state gambling regulations.
Kalshi has repeatedly argued that federal law gives the CFTC exclusive authority over its contracts. The company also claims that forcing it to comply with different rules in every state would create significant operational challenges and undermine the idea of a unified national market.
Despite the growing legal pressure, interest in sports prediction markets continues to surge.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has fueled record levels of activity across several prediction platforms. Trading volumes have climbed sharply as users place bets and predictions on tournament outcomes and match results.
Market data shows that sports-related contracts have become one of the largest categories on major prediction platforms during the World Cup, attracting billions of dollars in trading activity.
One contract focused on predicting the tournament winner has already generated billions of dollars in volume, highlighting the growing popularity of prediction markets even as regulators and courts continue to debate their legal status.
For now, Kalshi faces another legal setback in Michigan, while the broader fight over whether prediction markets should be regulated as financial products or gambling continues to unfold across the United States.
