Robinhood and Polymarket US sue Missouri officials over sports event contract crackdown

Robinhood Derivatives and Polymarket US each sued Missouri officials in federal court on November 9, 2026, asking judges to stop the state from enforcing its gambling and sports wagering laws against their event contracts. Both cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, according to the Robinhood complaint and the Polymarket US complaint posted to CourtListener.

The defendants in both suits are Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and the chairman and commissioners of the Missouri Gaming Commission, sued in their official capacities. Robinhood also names the commission’s executive director, Michael Leara.

The cease-and-desist letters

Both companies trace the dispute to cease-and-desist letters dated September 16. The letters called each firm an online sports wagering platform and demanded that it either stop offering sports wagering in Missouri or get a Gaming Commission license, pay state taxes and fees, and stop serving people under 21. Each letter gave thirty days to comply.

Robinhood says it answered on October 16, arguing that federal law preempts Missouri’s rules, and that talks did not resolve the dispute. Its complaint alleges that on November 6 the state’s solicitor general said the attorney general “now intends to seek a judicial order compelling compliance with state law in at least three days.” Polymarket US says its own talks with the attorney general’s office failed and that it faces an imminent threat of enforcement now that the deadline has passed.

Two routes into the market

The suits come from different parts of the market. Polymarket US runs its own exchange, which the CFTC designated as a contract market on July 9, 2025. Robinhood is a registered futures commission merchant that routes customer orders to exchanges including Kalshi, Rothera and Nadex.

Both argue that the Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over contracts traded on designated exchanges, so Missouri law cannot reach them. Polymarket US adds a Commerce Clause claim, arguing that Missouri’s licensing rules favor in-state casino boats and sports teams and would turn a national exchange into a one-state platform. Robinhood says a license is not realistically open to it, because Missouri’s two direct mobile licenses have gone to DraftKings and Circa Sports.

Polymarket US also cites the CFTC’s November 5 interpretation of its impartial access rules, which says exchanges generally may not limit access based on where an otherwise eligible participant is located in the U.S.

A growing list of Missouri cases

Robinhood seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions, and Polymarket US seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions. The Robinhood complaint lists four other exchanges already suing over the same threatened enforcement: Kalshi, Ludlow Exchange, Nadex and Underdog. With these two filings, both an exchange and a broker that routes trades to other exchanges are asking federal courts to settle how far Missouri’s gambling laws reach.

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