Polymarket US will stop offering sports-event contracts to Michigan residents, and must close all open sports positions by November 25, 2026. The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) announced the agreement on October 28, 2026, one day after a court-approved stipulation was filed in the federal district court for the Western District of Michigan. The significance of this move is that Michigan extracted a commercial concession without winning on the merits: Polymarket’s challenge to state gambling laws remains alive on appeal at the Sixth Circuit.
This report draws on the MGCB press release, the CFTC’s official filing record for QCX LLC, and coverage by InGame and RG.org dated October 28, 2026. The full text of the stipulation was not available to us, nor were the SBC Americas and Detroit News articles. Polymarket has not issued a public response, per the sources reviewed.
What Polymarket US Agreed To
The entity that signed is QCX LLC, which operates under the Polymarket US brand. According to the MGCB press release, the company accepted three commitments. First, no new sports-event contracts will be offered to Michigan customers. Second, any open sports positions held by Michigan residents that have not been voluntarily closed before November 25, 2026 (Eastern Time) will be wound down by that deadline. Third, in exchange, the state agreed to hold off on enforcement action as long as the terms are honored.
The scope is specific and worth reading carefully. The stipulation targets sports contracts offered to residents of one state only. It does not affect Polymarket US’s non-sports markets, the international Polymarket platform, or Polymarket’s operations in other U.S. states. These contracts work on a binary payout model: one dollar if the event occurs, zero if it does not. Readers unfamiliar with the mechanics can find a full breakdown in our prediction market guide.
Why a Federally Licensed Exchange Backed Down
QCX LLC is a Designated Contract Market, licensed by the CFTC on July 9, 2025, per the authority’s official filing. Polymarket acquired QCX that summer to re-enter the U.S. market legally, a process we tracked when covering the return to U.S. operations. Platforms registered with the CFTC typically argue that federal oversight preempts state gambling laws for their contracts.
Michigan disagrees. For the MGCB, a contract on the outcome of a sporting event is a sports bet, and a state license is required. MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams put it bluntly: “If you want to offer sports betting to Michigan residents, you need a Michigan license,” according to the MGCB press release. Attorney General Dana Nessel framed it as the state calling “the national sports betting industry” to account under Michigan law, per the same release. The tension between federal designation and state authority is the same conflict we examined in the New York case against Kalshi.
How Polymarket Got Here
The timeline explains why Polymarket chose to sign rather than fight. According to the MGCB and RG.org, in March 2026 the company sued Attorney General Nessel, MGCB Director Williams, and board members to block enforcement of state gambling laws. Federal Judge Paul L. Maloney denied the request for a temporary restraining order in March, then denied a preliminary injunction on June 17. In August, the district-level case was stayed pending appeal before the Sixth Circuit.
On September 10, the attorney general’s department warned Polymarket US that enforcement action would follow if the sports-contract offering did not stop. Also in September, the Sixth Circuit ruled, per InGame, that Ohio and Tennessee may apply their own gambling laws to Kalshi’s sports-event contracts. Sixth Circuit decisions carry weight across every state in the circuit, Michigan included. Facing an adverse precedent at the exact court set to decide its own appeal, Polymarket opted for a settlement that avoids sanctions while the appeal continues.
Who Else Was Stopped in Michigan
Polymarket is the fourth operator to halt sports-event contracts in the state. Per the MGCB press release, Michigan has obtained agreements or orders covering Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, and Polymarket. Robinhood Derivatives moved first: its agreement was announced September 9, with positions closed by October 9, according to InGame. Coinbase Financial Markets followed on October 7, with positions closed by October 10.
Kalshi took a different route and ended up in state court. On September 1, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie E. Aquilina converted the June emergency order into a preliminary injunction, requiring geolocation blocks for Michigan residents and setting a $500,000-per-day fine for violations, according to The Block. The state contends Kalshi is violating the injunction through advertising to residents, with a hearing set for November 24, per InGame. A full comparison of the two platforms’ business models is in our Kalshi vs. Polymarket analysis.
