The BetG8 Enforcement Index: 22 of 50 states have acted against prediction markets, 7 have stopped the contracts
The index, in one table
| Date | Tier 1: barred or restricted | Tier 2: active challenge | Tier 3: no action | States acted | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-10 | 7 | 14 | 29 | 21 | Re-audited under the October 2026 rules. Published at the time as 7 / 10 / 33. |
| 2026-09-18 | 7 | 15 | 28 | 22 | Missouri enters tier 2 with cease-and-desist letters to six platforms. |
| 2026-10-16 | 7 | 15 | 28 | 22 | Current reading. Kentucky remand recommendation and Ohio deadline do not change tiers. |
The headline number is tier 1 plus tier 2: states that have done something official aimed at the contracts or the platforms inside their borders. The number to watch for traders is tier 1 alone, because that is where the product is actually unavailable or cut down. The number to watch for the legal question is the gap between tier 2 and tier 1: fifteen states have made a move and not one of them has yet produced an order, which is where the appellate rulings of August and September will be tested first.
How a state earns its tier
Tier 1 means a court order, an enforced settlement or a state order limits Kalshi's sports event contracts for people located in the state, whether by geofence, by injunction or by the platform withdrawing under agreement. A state is in tier 1 even if the order is under appeal, because the restriction is live. Tier 2 means a lawsuit, a criminal charge, a regulator letter or a final judgment exists and is directed at the platforms or their contracts, but no order currently blocks the contracts. A state whose own suit was enjoined, like Minnesota or New Jersey, is in tier 2 because the state is still litigating; a state that has won on paper but not ordered anything, like Utah, is also tier 2. Tier 3 means we have found no state enforcement action at all. Signing an amicus brief, joining a comment letter to the CFTC, or a tribe suing in federal court does not move a state out of tier 3, because none of those is the state acting against the platform. Nor does a statute recognising federal authority, as in North Carolina, which is the opposite of enforcement.
Two consequences of those rules. First, the index is deliberately lower than headline counts you will see elsewhere: 39 states signed the October 7 Supreme Court brief, 40 signed the April CFTC letter, and neither of those is enforcement. Second, the index can go down. If the Sixth Circuit grants rehearing and Tennessee's injunction is restored, Tennessee stays in tier 2; if Michigan's injunction were vacated, Michigan would drop to tier 2 and the tier 1 count would fall to six. We will record the drop.
State by state
| State | Tier | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Alaska | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Arizona | 2 | 20 criminal counts filed March 17; arraignment enjoined by a federal court; CFTC sued the state. |
| Arkansas | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| California | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Colorado | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Connecticut | 2 | DCP cease-and-desist Dec 2025; Kalshi injunction denied Aug 10; state sued Kalshi Aug 26. |
| Delaware | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Florida | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Georgia | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Hawaii | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Idaho | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Illinois | 1 | Gaming Board treats sports contracts as unlicensed wagering; sports contracts unavailable. Oct 2 federal injunction protects Kalshi and Coinbase from the licensing law; per-contract fee still briefed. |
| Indiana | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Iowa | 2 | Kalshi sued the state pre-emptively; case pending. |
| Kansas | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Kentucky | 2 | AG sued Kalshi, Polymarket and VGW June 17; magistrate recommended remand to state court Oct 14. |
| Louisiana | 2 | Gaming Control Board cease-and-desist letters; no lawsuit filed. |
| Maine | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Maryland | 2 | Kalshi lost at district court; Fourth Circuit argued May 7; state agreed not to enforce pending appeal. |
| Massachusetts | 1 | Preliminary injunction against sports contracts; SJC appeal pending. |
| Michigan | 1 | Preliminary injunction Sept 1, 2026, $500,000 a day; Robinhood and Coinbase withdrew by agreement. |
| Minnesota | 2 | Statutory ban enjoined July 28 before taking effect; state defending the law. |
| Mississippi | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Missouri | 2 | AG cease-and-desist letters to six platforms Sept 18; 30 days to comply. |
| Montana | 1 | Sports event contracts reported unavailable after state action. |
| Nebraska | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Nevada | 1 | Settlement geofence on sports, election and entertainment contracts since Aug 12, 2026; Ninth Circuit ruled for Nevada Aug 28. |
| New Hampshire | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| New Jersey | 2 | State enjoined by the Third Circuit April 6; certiorari petition filed Sept 2, 39 states and the NFL in support. |
| New Mexico | 2 | Regulator action and tribal suits; no court order. |
| New York | 2 | AG sued Kalshi July 31 and Polymarket US Sept 24; Kalshi lost its injunction bid July 7, appeal pending. |
| North Carolina | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| North Dakota | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Ohio | 1 | $5M fine and cease-and-desist; Kalshi injunction denied and affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Sept 25; ten more platforms ordered to stop by Oct 16. |
| Oklahoma | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Oregon | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Rhode Island | 2 | AG sued Kalshi and Polymarket May 21; Kalshi and the CFTC sued the state. |
| South Carolina | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| South Dakota | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Tennessee | 2 | Cease-and-desist Jan 10; Kalshi injunction reversed by the Sixth Circuit Sept 25; state may enforce. |
| Texas | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Utah | 2 | State won summary judgment Aug 4; Tenth Circuit refused to block enforcement Sept 8; no shutdown ordered. |
| Vermont | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Virginia | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Washington | 1 | King County order of Aug 14 geofences six market categories; comprehensive geofence due Sept 2. |
| West Virginia | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
| Wisconsin | 2 | Judge denied the CFTC an injunction; state may enforce. |
| Wyoming | 3 | No state enforcement action reported. |
What the re-audit changed
When we first published a snapshot on the 50-state tracker on August 10 we counted 7 states with an order or ban and 10 with an active challenge, 17 in all. Applying the rules above to the same date gives 21, not 17: Rhode Island (sued May 21), Louisiana (regulator letters), Arizona (criminal charges) and Utah (summary judgment August 4) all belonged in tier 2 and were under-counted at the time. We have corrected the history rather than preserve the error, and the tracker rows for those states have been updated to match. The index and the tracker now use one set of definitions, and the tracker remains the page for status detail while this page is the page for the number.
How to cite it
Reporters and researchers may quote the index freely under CC BY 4.0. The form we suggest is: "BetG8 Enforcement Index, October 16, 2026: 22 of 50 states have taken enforcement action against Kalshi sports contracts; 7 restrict them." Link to this page so readers can see the rules and the date. The JSON carries the definitions, the history and every state's tier and basis; the CSV is the state table alone. Each row also links to our explainer for that state, where the order or filing is cited. If a tier is wrong, email editorial@betg8.com with the document and we will correct it and note the correction.
What the index does not measure
It does not count Polymarket, Robinhood, Coinbase or other platforms separately; where a state has acted against several, the state's tier reflects its strongest action against Kalshi, which is the defendant in nearly every case. It does not weight by population, so Wyoming and New York count the same. It does not score the federal side: the CFTC's suits against nine states, its emergency order of August 11 and its October 9 rules are logged in the change log, not here. And it does not predict. A state in tier 3 today can send a letter tomorrow; Missouri did exactly that on September 18.
Frequently asked questions
What is the BetG8 Enforcement Index?
A dated count of US states that have taken official action against sports event contracts on Kalshi, sorted into three tiers: states where the contracts are barred or restricted in practice, states with an active challenge but no blocking order, and states with no reported action. It is re-audited on each update and the history is kept.
How many states have blocked Kalshi sports contracts?
Seven as of October 16, 2026: Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Washington. In each, a court order, enforced settlement or state order limits the contracts for people located in the state. Another 15 states have a lawsuit, criminal charge, regulator letter or judgment live without a blocking order.
Why does the index differ from the number of states on the Supreme Court brief?
The brief Ohio filed on October 7, 2026 was signed by 39 states and the District of Columbia, but signing a brief is an opinion, not enforcement. The index counts only actions directed at the platforms or their contracts inside the state: orders, letters, suits, charges and judgments.
Can I reuse the index?
Yes, under CC BY 4.0. The state-by-state table is available as CSV and JSON, and every tier assignment links to a BetG8 explainer with the underlying order or filing. Attribution to BetG8 with a link is all we ask.
Related
- Is Kalshi legal in your state? The 50-state tracker
- Prediction market change log: every dated rule change
- Prediction market court calendar: every dated deadline ahead
- Odds converter: cent prices, American odds and implied probability
- States are beating Kalshi 19-4. The coverage says the opposite.
Sources
- BetG8 state explainers linked from each row, each citing the order, letter, complaint or judgment that places the state in its tier.
- Supreme Court of the United States, brief of Ohio and 38 other states and the District of Columbia, No. 26-299, October 7, 2026, for the signatory count that the index does not treat as enforcement.
- Maryland Attorney General, 41-attorney-general comment letter to the CFTC, April 30, 2026.
- Courthouse News, Sixth Circuit says states can regulate Kalshi's prediction market, September 25, 2026, and InGame on the Ninth Circuit ruling, August 28, 2026, for the appellate positions referenced in the tier rules.
- KCTV5, Missouri AG sends cease-and-desist letters, September 18, 2026, for the September tier change.
18+ only. This page counts public enforcement actions; it is not legal advice and does not say whether any contract is lawful for you. If gambling stops being fun, help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.