Robinhood to halt sports event contracts for Michigan customers
The brokerage must also close remaining Michigan sports positions by 9 October under a court-approved pause that leaves the preemption fight unresolved.
US.- Robinhood will stop offering new sports-related event contracts to Michigan customers today under a court-approved agreement with state officials. US District Judge Paul L. Maloney made the order last week. The stipulation covers contracts routed through exchanges operated by KalshiEX and Rothera Exchange and Clearing.
Robinhood must close any outstanding sports-event positions held by Michigan customers by the end of October 9. In return, Michigan officials agreed not to bring enforcement actions against Robinhood over sports-related event contracts for as long as the company complies with the order.
The agreement does not decide whether Michigan can regulate Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered prediction markets as gambling. It preserves the parties’ rights and defences, including Robinhood’s claim that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Michigan gambling laws when applied to event contracts traded on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets.
Robinhood Derivatives LLC sued Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) and other state officials in March. The US District Court for the Western District of Michigan denied Robinhood’s request for a preliminary injunction in June, and Robinhood appealed.
That appeal has been consolidated with one brought by Polymarket US. Coinbase has a separate appeal pending in the same circuit. The Sixth Circuit is also considering consolidated appeals involving Kalshi’s cases in Ohio and Tennessee.
