Kalshi and Polymarket US sue Louisiana to block enforcement against sports contracts
Both say Louisiana is about to treat their sports event contracts as illegal gambling. No court has ruled, and neither company has said it is pulling the contracts from Louisiana.
· Effective · Verified 2026-10-30 via official docs
Effective Oct 23, 2026: Kalshi and Polymarket US sue Louisiana to block enforcement against sports contracts. Affects: Kalshi and Polymarket US users in Louisiana who trade sports event contracts. Source: business.cch.com, verified Oct 30, 2026.
Official site: kalshi.com
KalshiEX LLC sued Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, Governor Jeff Landry, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and other state officials in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on 23 October 2026. QCX LLC, which runs Polymarket US, filed a similar suit against the attorney general and Gaming Control Board members in the Eastern District of Louisiana on 27 October. Both ask the courts to stop the state enforcing its gambling laws against their federally regulated exchanges.
Kalshi says enforcement is imminent and that Louisiana has given no assurance it will hold off. It points to a December 2025 Gaming Control Board advisory notice that called sports event contracts illegal gambling even on CFTC-regulated exchanges, and to enforcement powers that took effect on 1 August 2026, which let the attorney general seek injunctions and ask courts to order websites removed and accounts frozen. Under the state law Kalshi cites, computer gambling carries fines of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison, with each wager counted as a separate violation.
Kalshi argues the Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over its contracts and asks for a declaratory judgment, a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions. It says a Louisiana sports wagering licence is not realistically available, because affiliated licences are limited to casinos, sports teams and similar operators and the two direct mobile licences went to Circa Sports and DraftKings. Polymarket US makes the same preemption argument and adds a Commerce Clause claim.
No court has ruled in either case. Louisiana users of either exchange could lose access to sports contracts if the state moves to enforce and no court blocks it. The suits follow Kalshi's 27 October case against Missouri, Utah's civil and criminal cases against Kalshi, and the CFTC's suit against Utah.
“Defendants have provided no assurance that they will refrain from enforcing Louisiana law against Kalshi, and no non-enforcement agreement exists between Kalshi and Louisiana.”
— KalshiEX LLC v. Murrill, complaint, W.D. La. No. 1:26-cv-04476
Who this affects
Kalshi and Polymarket US users in Louisiana who trade sports event contracts.
Kalshi at a glance
Kalshi is a US prediction-market exchange regulated by the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market, where users trade event contracts on sports, politics, economics, weather and other outcomes in US dollars. It also offers perpetual futures to approved US users through its FCM, Kalshi Prime.
Full Kalshi sheet · Also affects Polymarket
Official site: kalshi.com
More from the newsroom
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- KalshiEX LLC v. Murrill et al., complaint, W.D. La. No. 1:26-cv-04476 (filed 2026-10-23) — checked 2026-10-30
- QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US v. Murrill et al., complaint, E.D. La. No. 2:26-cv-02482 (filed 2026-10-27) — checked 2026-10-30
- VitalLaw - Kalshi sues Louisiana, Missouri over sports-wagering laws (2026-10-29) — checked 2026-10-30
- RG.org - Polymarket, Kalshi, Nadex sue Louisiana, Missouri and Utah (2026-10-28) — checked 2026-10-30
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