Kalshi, Robinhood Agree to Pause Sports Contracts in Michigan

Fans of sports prediction markets in the Wolverine State won’t have many options to kick off the 2026 NFL season.

Robinhood reached a deal with Michigan to pause its sports contracts in court this week. As a result, they will not be available to customers using the operator’s platform by the end of today. The deal also requires Robinhood to settle all outstanding contracts by October 9. 

In exchange for agreeing to the deal, Michigan agreed to pause regulatory enforcement. 

The state won a similar order against Kalshi last week, meaning both platforms will be unavailable for at least the start of the NFL season.

The deal between Michigan and Robinhood will remain in place until a final ruling is made in their case, which could come soon.

Last week, New Jersey officially appealed their fight against sports prediction market apps to the US Supreme Court. If they take the case, the ruling would resolve many outstanding lawsuits against the industry, including the one in Michigan. 

Until then, Michigan’s regulated sports betting market will see far less competition from prediction markets entering the busiest betting season of the year.

Can Robinhood Comply?

Robinhood has agreed to pause its sports contracts, but there is reason to wonder how they’ll do so.

Many states have demanded operators geofence their market, ensuring no players can access sports markets from within. This is how online sportsbooks restrict availability to states where they are licensed and legal. However, prediction platforms have claimed this is incredibly expensive and difficult to accomplish, leading them to fight hard to remain available in all 50 markets.

Over the summer, industry-leading Kalshi agreed to halt sports contracts in Nevada. However, the state took the operator back to court last month, alleging that the operator’s attempt to geofence the market wasn’t effective enough to comply with the court order. As a result, the state is attempting to enforce hefty daily fines until the issue is fixed.

While Robinhood has far more experience in the US than Kalshi, there is reason to wonder whether it can succeed where its industry rival failed.