Vardan KhachatryanPrediction markets in Minnesota
All 15 apps we rank are open here, and 14 offer sports contracts.
- Apps restricted or contested
- Kalshi, Polymarket US
- Rulings and actions in Minnesota
- 2 on record, listed in the timeline
- Legal sports betting
- None, online or in person
- State ban
- Minn. Stat. § 609.7615, enjoined for CFTC-registered exchanges
- Minimum age
- 18 on most apps, 21 on three
- Federal appeals court
- Eighth Circuit: has not ruled on the question
- Last change
- August 17, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
Why prediction markets are legal in Minnesota
Prediction market apps sell event contracts: yes-or-no questions that pay $1 if the answer is yes. The CFTC regulates the exchanges that list them.
Minnesota decided that was gambling by another name. In May 2026, it became the first state to ban prediction markets outright.
The ban was due to start on August 1. Five days earlier, a federal judge blocked Minnesota from enforcing it against CFTC-registered exchanges.
So the apps stay open, for now. The judge called her order preliminary, and the case is far from over. Here is where it stands.
Which prediction market apps work in Minnesota
Every app we rank still accepts Minnesota residents. All but Interactive Brokers offer sports contracts here.
The sportsbook brands are here too. With no legal sports betting in Minnesota, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics sell sports contracts instead.
Polymarket US and Kalshi sued Minnesota and won the order. See whether Kalshi is legal in Minnesota and whether Polymarket is legal in Minnesota.
There is one gap. The order shields exchanges registered with the CFTC. Apps that only broker trades onto them, like Robinhood, are not named.
Age rules differ. Most apps take traders from 18. Novig, Fanatics Markets and Interactive Brokers require 21.
The table lists each app in our ranking order, with its status here and a link to our review.
| App | Status in Minnesota | More |
|---|---|---|
| Kalshi | Contested for all event contracts, with no restriction in force | Is Kalshi legal in Minnesota? |
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| Polymarket US | Contested for all event contracts, with no restriction in force | Is Polymarket legal in Minnesota? |
| OG | Available, sports included | OG review |
| Interactive Brokers | Available; it lists no sports contracts anywhere | Interactive Brokers review |
| Robinhood | Available, sports included | 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, sports included | DraftKings Predictions review |
| Fanatics Markets | Available, sports included | Fanatics Markets review |
| FanDuel Predicts | Available, sports included | FanDuel Predicts review |
| PrizePicks | Available, sports included | PrizePicks review |
| Underdog Predict | Available, sports included | Underdog Predict review |
How a prediction market trade works
Every 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 crowd's odds. A contract at 60¢ means traders put the chance at about 60%.
Say the Twins are 60¢ to win on Kalshi. You buy 100 contracts for $60, plus a $1.68 fee.
If they win, you collect $100, a $38.32 profit. If they lose, you are out $61.68.
You can also sell before the result, at whatever the market pays then. New to this? Start with what prediction markets are.
What Minnesota has said about prediction markets
Minnesota went further than any other state. It wrote a criminal ban.
Governor Tim Walz signed it on May 18, 2026. A second law, signed May 26, rewrote it and dropped weather contracts after farm groups objected.
The law, Minn. Stat. § 609.7615, makes it a felony to run a prediction market. Supplying its data or payments, or advertising one, is a felony too.
It covers sports, elections, war, pop culture and even whether someone will say a particular word.
It spares insurance contracts and futures on securities and physical commodities.
Attorney General Keith Ellison calls prediction markets “gambling, plain and simple.” His office is defending the law in court.
The Department of Public Safety's gambling enforcement division would enforce it. The law lets its director issue cease-and-desist orders.
The court cases that shape Minnesota's rules
Three lawsuits challenged the ban. The CFTC and the United States sued on May 19, Kalshi on May 27 and Polymarket US on June 3.
Judge Katherine Menendez heard them together. On July 27, 2026, she granted a preliminary injunction in all three.
She found the challengers likely to succeed, at least in part. Many event contracts, she reasoned, are “swaps” under the CFTC's “exclusive jurisdiction.”
She also warned the final result “may be much narrower.” Some contracts, like pop culture markets, may not be swaps at all.
The Eighth Circuit, which covers Minnesota, has not ruled on any of this. Next door, an Iowa judge read the law more narrowly in September.
He found sports contracts unlikely to be swaps. Our page on Kalshi in Minnesota explains what that means for sports here.
We found no appeal of the Minnesota order on the docket. The case now heads toward a final ruling.
What Minnesotans can trade
Sports lead. The Vikings' October 4 game against Miami already trades, and the Lynx's series with New York trades game by game.
College football is there too. Minnesota's October 3 game against Michigan is listed on Kalshi.
Politics is busy. Minnesota elects a governor and a US senator on November 3, 2026.
Kalshi lists the Senate race, Peggy Flanagan against Michele Tafoya. See the live Minnesota Senate odds.
Weather markets are a special case. The rewritten law left them out of the ban, after pushback from farm groups.
The risks for Minnesota traders
The law could snap back. Kalshi told the court it would cancel Minnesota users' trades if the ban were enforced.
Some markets are more exposed than others. The judge doubted that pop culture and mention markets are swaps.
You can lose everything you put into a contract. A 90¢ favorite that loses pays nothing.
Taxes are unclear. Minnesota taxes the profits as income, but how the IRS treats event contracts is not settled.
Trade only what you can afford to lose. Our responsible trading guide covers limits and where to get help.
What could change for Minnesota traders
Three things could. First, the final ruling could narrow the order to contracts that are true swaps.
Second, the Eighth Circuit could weigh in if either side appeals. Its ruling would bind Minnesota, Iowa and five other states.
Third, the Supreme Court could settle it. New Jersey has asked it to, after the circuits split. A ruling there would apply in every state.
Our litigation tracker follows each of these cases.
Minnesota prediction market timeline
Every change to prediction markets' standing in Minnesota, newest first. Each entry links the ruling, law or filing behind it.
Prediction markets vs sports betting in Minnesota
Sports betting is not legal in Minnesota, online or in person. Tribal casinos operate here, but none can take a sports bet.
That leaves prediction market apps as the main way to trade on a Vikings game from home.
Lawmakers saw that as the problem. They cited addiction, especially among young adults, and the risk of insider trading.
Tribal nations backed the ban in court. They argued the markets threaten the gaming their casinos run.
The difference for you is oversight. An app answers to the CFTC, so a dispute goes to the app first, then to the CFTC.
How to choose a prediction market app in Minnesota
Start with the court order. It covers CFTC-registered exchanges, and Polymarket US and Kalshi are parties to it.
Then pick by market. Almost every app covers sports. For politics and the economy, Polymarket US and Kalshi list the widest range.
Compare fees next. They vary more than prices do. Our fee comparison works out each app's cost on the same trade.
Our app rankings score every app on the same six criteria. Each review covers fees, payouts and the lawsuits against it.