QCX LLC, which operates as Polymarket US, filed a federal lawsuit on October 16 seeking to block Ohio officials from applying state sports-gaming laws to its event-contract exchange. The complaint filed in the Southern District of Ohio asks for declaratory and injunctive relief. It names Attorney General Andy Wilson, Ohio Casino Control Commission interim executive director Andromeda Morrison and the commission's members as defendants in their official capacities.
The filing followed an Ohio cease-and-desist demand concerning sports-event contracts. Polymarket US argues that the state's licensing framework discriminates against interstate commerce because it favors operators with an Ohio presence and limits licensed sports gaming to customers physically in the state. It also contends that the Commodity Exchange Act gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over contracts traded on a federally designated market. Those are the plaintiff's legal claims, and the court has not ruled on them.
The new case arrives after Ohio won an important appellate decision in a separate dispute with Kalshi. In a September 25 opinion, the Sixth Circuit said Kalshi had not shown that its sports-event contracts qualified as swaps under federal law. The court also held that the Commodity Exchange Act did not preempt Ohio's or Tennessee's gambling laws, affirming the denial of Kalshi's request for a preliminary injunction in Ohio.
Polymarket US says the legal setting has changed since that ruling because the CFTC issued new proposals addressing event contracts. Its complaint relies on that development while also advancing a Commerce Clause argument focused on Ohio's in-state requirements. Whether either theory succeeds will be decided through the litigation rather than by the filing itself.
SBC Americas reported that it contacted the Ohio attorney general's office and the Ohio Casino Control Commission for comment. The immediate verified development is the filing of the lawsuit and the relief requested, not a judgment on the legality of Polymarket US's contracts or Ohio's enforcement approach.
