Missouri Attorney General Sends Cease-and-Desist Notices to Prediction Market Operators

• Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway today announced her office sent cease-and-desist notices to six platforms
• Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Underdog, Novig, and Crypto.com received notices
• Hanaway said prediction market operators must be licensed by Missouri Gaming Commission to over sports event contracts

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway today reported her office sent cease-and-desist notices to six prediction market companies operating in the state.

The attorney general’s office sent cease-and-desist notices to Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Underdog, Novig, and Crypto.com to prohibit unlicensed trades of sports event contracts in the Show-Me State.

“Missourians voted for a safe, well‑regulated sports wagering market that supports public education and addresses problem gambling. Companies cannot repackage sports bets as ‘event contracts’ to avoid Missouri law. We will enforce the rules voters approved and protect consumers,” Hanaway said in a press release. “Any company that wants to offer sports wagering in Missouri must be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission, pay the required taxes and fees, and ensure no one under 21 can place a bet.”

Comply with Missouri Law

Hanaway urged the prediction market operators to comply with Missouri law and desist from offering sports event contracts in the state without license from the Missouri Gaming Commission.

In the cease-and-desist notices, the attorney general’s office notes the operators need to prohibit the trades of sports event contracts within 30 days of Sept. 16, 2026, or the state will “pursue available enforcement actions.”

Hanaway noted that licensed sports betting operators in Missouri pay a 10% tax on adjusted sports betting revenues and pay a licensing fee of $500,000. Prediction market operators have so far not paid their fair share to the state for sports event contracts being traded in Missouri, according to the cease-and-desist notices sent out to operators.

Need to Pay Fair Share

Earlier this month, Hanaway, speaking with Newstalk KZRG, said Missouri residents who use prediction market platforms and sports event contracts to place bets on their hometown Kansas City Chiefs are likely participating in sports betting, and these companies should be subjected to the same taxes as the state’s licensed sports betting operators.

“If these prediction markets allow sports betting on their platforms, then we think they should pay the same taxes as any of those other platforms and have the same regulatory structure,” Hanaway said to Newstalk KZRG.

Missouri launched its legal sports betting market in December 2025. Missouri currently has eight licensed online sports betting operators and eight retail sports betting operators. Licensed operators are taxed at a rate of 10% of adjusted gross revenue.

Hanaway told Newstalk KZRG that states have historically regulated sports betting and these laws should extend to sports event contracts. Prediction market operators offering sports event contracts, she noted, should be subject to similar regulations and taxes as licensed sports betting operators.