Connecticut Orders Nine Sports Prediction Markets To Stop

The post Connecticut Orders Nine Sports Prediction Markets To Stop appeared first on SportsHandle. Connecticut gaming regulators have ordered nine prediction market platforms to stop offering sports-related event contracts to residents, escalating the state’s fight over whether the products should be regulated as gambling. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) issued cease-and-desist orders to: Polymarket Coinbase Crypto.com Robinhood ProphetX Novig Webull Gemini Underdog Predict Ironically, Underdog Predict is one of the newer platforms to the space, and Novig is taking the industry by storm. Gov. Ned Lamont and DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli announced the action. In Connecticut’s view, a contract that lets a customer take a position on a game or sports outcome is a sports wager, regardless of whether it is presented as a financial-style “yes” or “no” market. The platforms must stop marketing, promoting, or making sports event contracts available in Connecticut. They also must let Connecticut customers withdraw funds from their accounts, according to the orders. Polymarket, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Robinhood, ProphetX, Novig, Webull, Gemini, and Underdog Predict were named in the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s September enforcement action. Image Credit: Shutterstock Connecticut: Contracts Lack Sports Betting Safeguards Sports prediction markets are big business. Connecticut runs a limited legal sports betting market through DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics. Each operates under state authorization connected to either a tribal casino partner or the Connecticut Lottery. The DCP says the prediction markets targeted in the latest action are operating outside that structure. Regulators argue the platforms do not meet Connecticut’s licensing and consumer-protection requirements for legal sportsbooks. Among the protections cited by the state are: A minimum betting age of 21. Responsible gambling tools and voluntary self-exclusion safeguards. Limits on advertising to self-excluded individuals and near college campuses. State standards for operational integrity, cybersecurity, and consumer data. Restrictions on prohibited betting markets, including some markets involving Connecticut college teams. Connecticut has framed the issue as a consumer-protection matter, warning that sports event contracts can create betting-like risks without the controls required of licensed sportsbook operators. Operators that fail to follow the cease-and-desist orders could face civil penalties under Connecticut’s unfair trade practices law, as well as possible criminal penalties under state gaming statutes. Gov. Ned Lamont said Connecticut’s sports wagering framework was intended to create a regulated market with consumer protections, not an unlicensed “free-for-all.” Image Credit: FanDuel Nearly 30 Subpoenas Issued Alongside the nine orders, the DCP issued nearly 30 subpoenas to gaming-service-provider licensees, media companies, and other parties that may have information about how sports prediction markets operate or reach Connecticut consumers. The subpoena recipients were not identified as enforcement targets. Instead, the requests appear to be part of a wider DCP investigation into the promotion, availability, and structure of sports-related event contracts. The new action is not Connecticut’s first attempt to restrict prediction markets. In December 2025, the DCP sent cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi, Robinhood Derivatives, and Crypto.com. Connecticut later sued Kalshi, seeking to block the company from offering sports contracts in the state. A federal judge denied Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction. The company has appealed, maintaining that its contracts are federally regulated swaps under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight and should not be governed by state gambling law. Connecticut Joins Wider Prediction Market Dispute The Connecticut news is part of a national legal and policy dispute over prediction markets and sports event contracts. Companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket have said event contracts should be governed primarily by federal financial-market rules. State regulators and licensed sportsbook operators have pushed back, saying sports-based contracts are functionally sports bets and should be subject to state licensing, tax, age-verification, advertising, and responsible-gambling rules. The question may ultimately be answered by courts, regulators, or Congress. In the meantime, Connecticut has taken one of the clearest positions in the country. For Connecticut residents, the practical effect is immediate: the nine companies named in the DCP orders have been told to stop offering sports-linked prediction markets in the state. The post Connecticut Orders Nine Sports Prediction Markets To Stop appeared first on SportsHandle.