Nevada court bars Polymarket from offering contracts

A Nevada state court on May 29 granted a preliminary injunction preventing Polymarket from offering prediction-market contracts to people in Nevada, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said. Judge Woodbury of Nevada’s First Judicial District Court delivered the oral ruling; a written order is expected to follow, the board added.

The NGCB’s enforcement position is that sports-event contracts and certain other event-based contracts count as wagering under Nevada law and must be offered only by state-licensed operators. The board says the injunction is part of recent actions against exchanges that offered event contracts without Nevada gaming licenses.

In recent months the regulator obtained preliminary injunctions against Kalshi in April and Coinbase in March. Crypto.com and Robinhood agreed in late 2025 to stop offering sports event contracts in Nevada after courts denied their motions for preliminary relief.

The NGCB said it has “successfully restricted the operation of all unlicensed prediction markets that had been known to be operating in Nevada.” The board’s release included a statement from Mike Dreitzer, NGCB chairman, welcoming the ruling and noting the regulator will continue enforcement efforts.

A parallel legal fight is under way in federal court. A consolidated appeal before the Ninth Circuit, brought by Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com, asks whether the Commodity Exchange Act gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission exclusive authority over event contracts and whether that federal law preempts state regulation of those contracts.

During April oral arguments, a Ninth Circuit panel questioned whether federal law entirely bars state enforcement and whether sports-event contracts are effectively the same as sports betting. Earlier this year the Third Circuit ruled in Kalshi’s favor in a dispute with New Jersey, creating a split among federal appeals courts.

The Ninth Circuit’s forthcoming decision could influence enforcement of prediction markets in other states. For now, Nevada has secured multiple state-court rulings and awaits the written order in the Polymarket case while the federal appeal proceeds.