Vardan Khachatryan
Kalshi in Michigan
Not available for sports contracts.
- Sports contracts
- Not available
- Other contracts
- Available
- Regulator
- CFTC: a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization
- Rulings and actions in Michigan
- 1 on record, listed in the timeline
- Court order
- Preliminary injunction, signed September 1, 2026
- Penalty for breaking it
- $500,000 a day
- Federal appeals court
- Sixth Circuit: ruled against Kalshi on September 25, 2026
- Last change
- September 25, 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 Michigan, but not for sports
Kalshi is legal in Michigan because it is a federally regulated exchange. The CFTC designated it a contract market in 2020.
That covers its markets on elections, the economy and the weather. Michigan's lawsuit leaves those alone.
Sports are different. Michigan says a contract on a Lions game is a wager, and wagers need a state license.
A state judge agreed, for now. Her order keeps Kalshi's sports contracts from anyone in Michigan while the case runs.
Then, on September 25, the federal appeals court over Michigan sided with the states too. Here is what each ruling means.
What you can trade on Kalshi from Michigan
Everything except sports. Politics, economics, crypto, culture and weather markets stay open. You must be 18 or over and pass Kalshi's ID checks.
Politics is the busiest local menu this fall. Michigan elects a governor and a US senator on November 3.
The Senate race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed trades on Kalshi: see the live Michigan Senate odds.
Kalshi's governor market lists three names: Jocelyn Benson, John James and Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent.
Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, Wolverines and Spartans markets are closed to you. The block covers Michigan residents and anyone physically in the state.
How Kalshi works for Michigan traders
Every Kalshi contract is a yes-or-no question. It pays $1 if the answer is yes and nothing if it is no.
The price is the market's odds. A contract at 60¢ means traders put the chance at about 60%.
Say the Yes side of a Michigan Senate contract costs 60¢. You buy 100 contracts for $60. Kalshi's standard fee is $1.68.
If Yes wins, you collect $100, a $38.32 profit. If it loses, you are out $61.68.
A Lions contract works the same way. You just cannot buy one from Michigan while the order stands.
You trade against other people, not the house. The fee is highest near 50¢ and shrinks toward either end. Our Kalshi fees guide has the schedule.
What Michigan has said about Kalshi
Michigan has said plenty, and in court. Attorney General Dana Nessel sued Kalshi on March 3, 2026, on behalf of the state and its Gaming Control Board.
“Corporations cannot circumvent state gaming laws,” Nessel said when she filed. The complaint calls Kalshi an unlicensed internet sports betting operation.
The Gaming Control Board had warned its own licensees first. In October 2025, it said helping offer sports event contracts could cost them their licenses.
Kalshi disagrees and says only federal law applies. “We won't be bullied by interests that care more about protecting their monopolies than their consumers,” it said in June.
Michigan's lawsuit against Kalshi, explained
The case is Nessel v. KalshiEX, No. 26-001087-CZ, in Ingham County Circuit Court. It rests on Michigan's Lawful Sports Betting Act.
Kalshi moved it to federal court, which sent it back in late June.
On June 29, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina granted a temporary restraining order. Kalshi then stopped Michigan users from opening new sports positions.
After an August 17 hearing, she signed a preliminary injunction on September 1. The attorney general announced it the next day.
The order is broad. Kalshi must geofence Michigan with a location provider the Gaming Control Board licenses. It also reaches ads aimed at Michigan, from push alerts to influencers.
Parlays, in-game and prop contracts are covered too. Each day of noncompliance can cost $500,000.
The judge pointed to age. Michigan sportsbooks must turn away anyone under 21, while Kalshi takes traders from 18.
She also found the state's schools, problem-gambling programs and tribes lose revenue. She called Kalshi a “sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity.”
Kalshi also had to send the order to every broker selling its sports contracts. It lasts until a final judgment.
What could change Kalshi's status in Michigan
Three things could. The first is the state case itself. A final judgment, or a higher Michigan court, could end the injunction or make it permanent.
The second is the Sixth Circuit, the federal appeals court over Michigan. On September 25, 2026, it ruled against Kalshi in its Ohio and Tennessee cases.
It held Kalshi's sports contracts are not swaps, so state gaming law applies. Federal judges in Michigan must follow that ruling.
The same court now holds three Michigan appeals, from Robinhood, Polymarket US and Coinbase. All three press the argument it just rejected.
The third is the Supreme Court. New Jersey has asked it to settle the question, and Kalshi's reply is due November 9. Our litigation tracker follows each case.
Kalshi in Michigan: timeline
Every change to Kalshi's position in Michigan, newest first. Each entry links the ruling or report behind it.
How Kalshi compares to sports betting in Michigan
Sports betting is legal in Michigan. Lawmakers passed the Lawful Sports Betting Act in December 2019, and online books launched in January 2021.
Each licensed sportsbook partners with one of the three Detroit casinos or one of 12 tribes. Twelve were live online at the end of 2025.
Those books pay an 8.4% state tax on online sports revenue and must turn away anyone under 21. Kalshi does neither, which is the heart of the case.
The product differs too. A sportsbook sets the odds and takes your wager. On Kalshi, another trader takes the other side, and prices move all game.
So for a Lions game, the legal route in Michigan is a state-licensed sportsbook, for now.
Other prediction market apps in Michigan
The order reaches beyond Kalshi's own app. Brokers such as Robinhood, Coinbase and Webull sell Kalshi's contracts, so its sports geofence follows them.
Robinhood also agreed to stop new sports contracts on every exchange it uses. Polymarket US lost its bid to block Michigan's enforcement and has appealed.
DraftKings and FanDuel run licensed sportsbooks here, so their prediction apps do not list sports in Michigan. For the full picture, see prediction markets in Michigan.
| App | Status in Michigan | More |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| Polymarket US | Contested for sports contracts, with no restriction in force | Is Polymarket legal in Michigan? |
| OG | Available, but not for sports contracts | OG review |
| Interactive Brokers | Available; it lists no sports contracts anywhere | Interactive Brokers review |
| Robinhood | Not available for sports contracts | Is Robinhood legal in Michigan? |
| ProphetX | Available, sports included | ProphetX review |
| Coinbase | Available, but not for sports contracts | Coinbase review |
| Webull | Available, but not for sports contracts | Webull review |
| Novig | Not available | 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 | Not available | Underdog Predict review |
How to use Kalshi in Michigan
Sign up with your email, confirm your identity with a driver's license or passport, and fund the account.
Kalshi takes bank transfers, debit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wires and crypto, among others. Withdrawals carry no Kalshi fee.
In Michigan, sports markets are blocked and everything else works as usual. The order requires a location check by a state-licensed provider, the kind sportsbooks use.
Before you fund it, read our Kalshi review for its fees, payouts and lawsuits. New to all this? Start with what prediction markets are.