Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. Fast on the heels of Nevada and New Jersey sending cease-and-desist letters to prediction market operators offering contracts on sports events and Massachusetts openly questioning their legality, Ohio piled in on Monday (31 March).
As explained in a press release, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) issued cease-and-desist notices to three sites allowing users to risk money on sports outcomes: Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com.
In his statement within the press release, OCCC executive director Matthew Schuler was explicit in his interpretation of what the trio of companies are doing.
“Purchasing a contract based on which team a person thinks will win a sporting event is no different than placing a bet through a traditional sportsbook,” said Schuler. “The only difference is that these event contracts do not have the consumer protections required under Ohio law and are accessible to Ohioans under 21 years of age. The Commission must take action to fulfill its statutory responsibilities and ensure the integrity of sports gaming in Ohio.”
“The definition of sports gaming”
As the release spelled out: “The Commission determined the event contracts offered by the companies on sporting events meet the definition of sports gaming under the law, which requires licensure to be legally offered in Ohio.”
So Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com were issued letters that spelled out they could not offer sports event contracts to Ohioans. They must notify the commission of their compliance with this demand within two weeks – by 14 April.
The three operators are regulated not state-by-state like sportsbook operators are, but rather federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Ohio, like Nevada, New Jersey and Massachusetts, seemed content to remain hands-off until this year, when the operators began offering a form of wagering on sports events such as the Super Bowl and March Madness.
On Friday, Kalshi swung back at Nevada and New Jersey’s regulators, suing for declaratory and injunctive relief.
Read the full story here.
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