Vardan Khachatryan
Kalshi in Illinois
Contested for sports contracts, with no restriction in force.
- Sports contracts
- Available, but contested
- Other contracts
- Available
- Regulator
- CFTC: a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization
- Rulings and actions in Illinois
- 3 on record, listed in the timeline
- Legal sports betting
- Online and retail since March 2020
- State license for exchanges
- Required since July 1, 2026; likely preempted for Kalshi, a judge ruled October 2
- Federal appeals court
- Seventh Circuit: has not ruled on the question
- Last change
- October 8, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
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Why Kalshi is legal in Illinois, for now
Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange. The CFTC designated it a contract market in 2020, the status futures exchanges hold.
Kalshi says that puts its contracts under federal law alone. Illinois says the opposite, in writing and now in statute.
Its Gaming Board put it bluntly in October 2025: “‘Prediction markets’ constitute gambling activity under Illinois law.”
So why can you still trade? Illinois promised a federal court in June to hold off while a judge ruled. On October 2, 2026, she ruled for Kalshi in part. A written injunction is still to come.
What you can trade on Kalshi from Illinois
Everything Kalshi lists: sports, politics, economics, crypto, culture and weather. You must be 18 or over and pass its ID checks.
Sports carry the most money. Kalshi lists markets on the Bears, Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Sky, plus Illini and Northwestern games.
That matters here. Illinois sportsbooks may not take bets on Illinois college teams. Kalshi lists those games, Illini and Northwestern football included.
Politics is busy too. Gov. JB Pritzker faces Darren Bailey on November 3, 2026, and Juliana Stratton faces Don Tracy for the open U.S. Senate seat.
Kalshi lists both races, the secretary of state's race and the 2027 Chicago mayor's race. It even lists the daily high temperature in Chicago.
How Kalshi works for Illinois traders
A Kalshi contract is a yes-or-no question. It pays $1 if the answer is yes and nothing if it is no.
The price doubles as the odds. At 60¢, the market is saying about 60%.
Suppose the Bears are 60¢ to win Sunday. You buy 100 contracts for $60, and Kalshi's standard fee adds $1.68.
A Bears win pays $100, a $38.32 profit. A loss costs $61.68 in all.
There is no house on the other side, just another trader. Kalshi earns its fee whichever way the game goes.
The fee is largest at 50¢ and shrinks toward the edges. Our Kalshi fees guide has the full schedule.
What Illinois has said about Kalshi
More than most states. On April 1, 2025, the Illinois Gaming Board sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist letter. It said Kalshi's activity “constitutes illegal gambling.”
In October 2025, the board warned its own licensees. Taking part in prediction markets “may impact that party's suitability for licensure,” it wrote.
In March 2026, the attorney general's office agreed not to act against Kalshi while a related Coinbase case was pending. It also promised notice first.
Illinois has joined briefs backing other states against Kalshi, in the Third, Fourth and Ninth Circuits, Kalshi says.
Pritzker also signed Executive Order 2026-04 on April 21, 2026. It bars state employees from trading on nonpublic information. It limits no one else.
Then came the law. On June 16, 2026, Gov. JB Pritzker signed SB 3019, now Public Act 104-468. Its exchange rules took effect July 1.
Kalshi's lawsuit against Illinois, explained
SB 3019 rewrote the Sports Wagering Act. A sports contract “offered, traded, or executed on a prediction market or exchange” is now an “exchange wager.”
That means an exchange needs an Illinois sports wagering license. It also owes a fee of 1.75% on its first 5 million exchange wagers a year, then 3.5%.
Illinois says the change only clarified existing law, since sports wagering always included exchange wagering. Kalshi calls the license costly and uncertain.
Kalshi sued on June 23, 2026, in federal court in Chicago. The case is KalshiEX LLC v. Raoul, No. 1:26-cv-07363.
It names Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the governor and the Gaming Board. Kalshi argues federal law overrides both SB 3019 and older gambling laws.
On June 29, the state agreed not to enforce against Kalshi while its injunction request is pending. Kalshi dropped its emergency bid in return.
Judge Martha Pacold now has the case. She also has the CFTC's own suit against Illinois, filed April 2, and Coinbase's, argued in February.
She ruled on all three on October 2, 2026. Kalshi's core sports contracts, she found, are likely “swaps” under federal law.
So Illinois's license rule, and the criminal law behind it, are likely preempted as applied to Kalshi. Complying, she wrote, would force Kalshi “to build a market solely for Illinoisans.” She held the new fee for more briefing, but on October 8 all parties said none is needed. They must propose a written injunction by October 29.
What could change Kalshi's status in Illinois
The first is the written injunction. The parties must propose one by October 29, and its terms will set what Illinois can still enforce.
Illinois could appeal the injunction to the Seventh Circuit, which has not ruled on the question. The issue may reach that court first from Wisconsin.
On September 21, 2026, Kalshi asked the Seventh Circuit to hear a Wisconsin tribe's case against it. The trial judge called the questions “novel and complex.”
The circuits that have ruled are split. The Third sided with Kalshi in April; the Ninth and Sixth ruled against it in August and September. Kalshi has asked both to rehear its cases. On October 9, 2026, the CFTC proposed a rule defining event contracts, sports included, as swaps.
Lawmakers could act too. A Republican bill filed September 2, HB 5811, would repeal the exchange-wager fee.
New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to settle it all, and Illinois joined 38 other states backing that request. Kalshi's response is due November 9. A ruling there would decide Illinois too. Our litigation tracker follows each case.
Kalshi in Illinois: timeline
Every change to Kalshi's position in Illinois, newest first. Each entry links the filing or order behind it.
How Kalshi compares to sports betting in Illinois
Sports betting is legal in Illinois, online and in person. Pritzker signed the law on June 28, 2019, and betting began in early March 2020.
It is big business. In 2025, 14 sportsbooks paid the state $479.6 million in tax on $1.48 billion of revenue.
They pay 20% to 40% of that revenue, plus 25¢ to 50¢ a wager since July 2025. Bettors must be 21.
Kalshi takes traders from 18 and pays no Illinois wagering tax. That gap is what SB 3019 was written to close.
The products look alike, and the state says they are the same thing. Kalshi says an exchange contract is a derivative, not a wager.
Other prediction market apps in Illinois
DraftKings and FanDuel run licensed sportsbooks in Illinois, and their prediction apps offer no sports contracts here. Fanatics Markets is not offered in Illinois.
The Gaming Board has warned its licensees that prediction markets could cost them their suitability. The table shows where each app we rank stands in Illinois.
For the full picture, see prediction markets in Illinois.
| App | Status in Illinois | More |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| Polymarket US | Contested for sports contracts, with no restriction in force | Polymarket review |
| OG | Available, but not for sports contracts | OG review |
| Interactive Brokers | Available; it lists no sports contracts anywhere | Interactive Brokers review |
| Robinhood | Contested for sports contracts, with no restriction in force | Robinhood review |
| ProphetX | Available, sports included | ProphetX review |
| Coinbase | Available, sports included | Coinbase review |
| Webull | Available, sports included | Webull review |
| Novig | Available, sports included | Novig review |
| DraftKings Predictions | Available, but not for sports contracts | DraftKings Predictions review |
| Fanatics Markets | Not available | Fanatics Markets review |
| FanDuel Predicts | Available, but not for sports contracts | FanDuel Predicts review |
| PrizePicks | Available, but not for sports contracts | PrizePicks review |
| Underdog Predict | Available, sports included | Underdog Predict review |
How to use Kalshi in Illinois
Sign up with your email, confirm your identity with a driver's license or passport, then fund the account.
Kalshi takes bank transfers, debit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wires and crypto, among others. Bank and wire deposits are free; cards can cost 2%.
Illinois taxes income at a flat 4.95%, and trading profits count. Federal tax applies on top.
Before you deposit, read our Kalshi review for its fees, payouts and lawsuits. New to this? Start with what prediction markets are.