Another state, another letter — the prediction-market map keeps shrinking one attorney general at a time.

Missouri orders Kalshi to halt sports contracts in new cease-and-desist salvo

By iGaming USA editorial desk Published Updated

Gateway Arch in St. Louis
The St. Louis Gateway Arch. Photo: Skyler J. / Pexels

The short answer

Missouri's AG sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist over sports event contracts, arguing they amount to unlicensed sports wagering under state law. It's the newest front in a state-by-state campaign that now spans Nevada, New Jersey and beyond.

In this article

Missouri has become the latest state to move against prediction-market sports wagering, with the attorney general's office ordering Kalshi to stop offering sports event contracts to Missouri residents — weeks before the state's own licensed sportsbooks finish ramping up.

What the letter argues

The cease-and-desist frames Kalshi's sports contracts as gambling products that require a Missouri license, not financial instruments under exclusive CFTC oversight — the same theory Nevada, New Jersey and Ohio regulators have pressed since mid-2025. The timing is notable: Missouri's regulated sports betting market only launched in December 2025, making the state one of the newest wagering regimes to draw the licensing line.

  • The demand: stop offering sports event contracts to Missouri users.
  • The theory: event contracts on games are sports wagers requiring state licensure.
  • The counter: Kalshi's position, argued in federal courts nationwide, is that CFTC-regulated derivatives fall outside state gambling law.
  • The pattern: cease-and-desist letters are becoming the default state opening move — Nevada and New Jersey both escalated from letters to litigation.

Why Missouri matters

Each new state letter widens the front Kalshi must defend while its marquee federal cases grind on — the Sixth Circuit already ruled sports contracts can fall under state gambling law, and the Ninth Circuit rehearing fight is still live. For operators, the practical map is now a patchwork: 'available everywhere the CFTC reaches' is quietly becoming 'available where your legal team hasn't received a letter yet.'

Context: the judicial split driving all of this is covered in the Sixth Circuit Kalshi ruling, the product mechanics in prediction markets vs. sportsbooks, and the parallel crackdown pattern in sweepstakes casino state bans.

Sources