Michigan Gaming Control Board reacts to short-term restraining order towards KalshiEX, unlicensed sports activities betting operation focusing on Michigan households

Ingham County Circuit Court orders Kalshi to cease providing unlicensed sports activities wagers to Michigan residents, together with youngsters as younger as 18, or face fines of $120,000 per day

DETROIT, June 30, 2026 — The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) introduced in the present day that the Ingham County Circuit Court has granted a short lived restraining order (TRO) towards KalshiEX, LLC, instantly barring the prediction-market platform from providing unlicensed web sports activities betting to Michigan residents.

The order, signed by Hon. Rosemarie E. Aquilina, was secured on the MGCB’s behalf by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, who serves because the Board’s authorized counsel in gaming enforcement issues. The motion is a part of the MGCB’s ongoing effort to carry offshore and unlicensed playing operators accountable and to defend Michigan’s households — particularly its younger folks and people scuffling with downside playing — from predatory, unregulated betting schemes.

“Kalshi is targeting Michigan’s most vulnerable residents with sports betting dressed up as investing — and without intervention, the harm will keep getting worse,” mentioned MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams. “Our licensed sportsbooks follow strict rules designed to protect consumers — verifying that bettors are at least 21 years old, offering responsible-gaming tools, and protecting patron funds. Kalshi has refused to play by the same rules, and our agency will continue to use every regulatory and legal tool available to make sure Michigan families, our schools, and our first responders are protected from this unchecked exploitation.”

Protecting Michigan’s Young People
Michigan regulation requires sports activities bettors to be at the very least 21 years previous. Research reveals that youngsters and younger adults who gamble are three to 4 occasions extra seemingly than adults to develop problem-gambling behaviors, with penalties that may embrace anxiousness, despair, and, in extreme circumstances, suicidal ideation. Michigan’s licensed operators are required to confirm age and identification earlier than any wager is positioned.

Safeguards for Problem Gamblers
Michigan’s licensed sports activities betting operators should supply sturdy responsible-gaming protections, together with self-exclusion applications, deposit and wagering limits, and direct hyperlinks to dependancy assets, all overseen instantly by the MGCB. Kalshi gives none of those mandated protections, leaving Michigan residents with severe gambling-related psychological well being dangers uncovered with no regulatory backstop. The MGCB’s motion, introduced via the Attorney General’s workplace, seeks to shut that hole and be sure that anybody wagering on sports activities in Michigan has entry to patron protections via licensed sportsbooks.

Defending Michigan’s Regulated Market, Schools, and First Responders
By working and not using a Michigan gaming license, Kalshi avoids the charges, taxes, and compliance prices that licensed Michigan sportsbooks should pay — giving it an unfair aggressive benefit whereas diverting vital income away from the general public.

Internet sports activities wagering income collected by the MGCB instantly funds:

• The School Aid Fund, supporting Michigan lecture rooms statewide;
• The Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund, which supplies therapy and prevention assets;
• The First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund, supporting Michigan’s cops and firefighters;
• The Michigan Strategic Fund, which promotes statewide financial growth; and
• Critical public companies within the City of Detroit, together with regulation enforcement, public security, youth applications, and infrastructure.

Terms of the Order
The TRO, efficient instantly and lasting 14 days, prohibits Kalshi and anybody performing on its behalf from providing, promoting, or facilitating web sports activities betting to any individual situated in Michigan. The order directs Kalshi to implement state-compliant, third-party geolocation expertise to make sure it isn’t taking wagers from Michigan residents, according to MGCB Technical Bulletin No. 2024-03, and imposes a positive of $120,000 per day for noncompliance.

Part of a Broader Effort to Hold Prediction Markets Accountable
The TRO builds on current victories for Michigan shoppers. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney denied requests by Polymarket and Robinhood for preliminary injunctions that may have blocked Michigan from imposing its playing legal guidelines towards their sports-related prediction contracts, rejecting their arguments that such merchandise are exempt federal “swaps” past the State’s attain. No operator might sidestep the state’s client protections just by rebranding a sports activities wager as an “event contract.”

“The MGCB exists to ensure fair and honest gaming for the people of the state, and that mission does not stop at the border of a company’s marketing materials,” added Williams. “Whether Kalshi calls its product an ‘event contract’ or a ‘trade,’ it’s a sports wager being offered to Michigan residents without a license and without the consumer protections our state requires.”

The MGCB urges any Michigan resident scuffling with downside playing to hunt assist. Free, confidential assist is on the market 24/7 via the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ downside playing helpline, and extra responsible-gaming assets, together with the state’s self-exclusion applications, can be found at Michigan.gov/MGCB and DontRegretTheBet.org.

Gambling in any type is for leisure functions solely. If you or somebody you recognize might have a playing downside, name 1-800-GAMBLER, chat online, or go to 800gambler.org. Help is on the market 24/7, free and confidential. Michigan residents also can go to the MGCB’s Responsible Gaming web page for info on self-exclusion applications, together with the Disassociated Persons List and the Internet Gaming and Sports Betting Responsible Gaming Database. Through a partnership with Gamban, Michigan residents can declare a free license for Gamban’s playing blocking software program — go to Michigan.gov/MGCB to study extra. Additional accountable gaming instruments can be found at DontRegretTheBet.org. The Michigan Gaming Control Board shall make sure the conduct of truthful and trustworthy gaming to guard the pursuits of Michigan residents. Learn extra at Michigan.gov/MGCB.