A Louisiana state judge has ordered 10 prediction-market companies to stop offering event contracts to people in the state, granting Attorney General Liz Murrill’s request for emergency relief on the day her office sued the operators.
Judge Jeffrey Johnson of the 21st Judicial District Court in Tangipahoa Parish signed temporary restraining orders covering companies including Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood. The orders require the platforms to geofence Louisiana and bar event-contract trading by customers located there. They expire after 10 days.
The state alleges that the contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting and gambling under Louisiana law. Murrill said operators without licensed gaming status were illegal in the state and accused the companies of relabelling gambling to evade state laws, regulation and taxes.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, civil penalties and other relief. A hearing on the state’s preliminary-injunction request is set for Nov. 30. NOLA.com reported that, as of 7 p.m. Thursday, Louisiana users could still purchase an event contract on Kalshi.
Kalshi and Polymarket have maintained that their contracts are financial products governed by federal regulation rather than state gambling rules. Kalshi’s head of litigation, Jovy Dedaj, said the operation of federally regulated exchanges was exclusively a federal matter. Kalshi and Polymarket did not immediately respond to NOLA.com’s requests for comment.
The state case came weeks after Kalshi sued Murrill and other Louisiana officials in federal court, seeking to stop the state from enforcing its gambling laws against the company. After Murrill filed the state action, Kalshi sought its own temporary and preliminary federal injunction, arguing it faced imminent criminal, administrative and forfeiture exposure despite the CFTC’s view that its contracts were lawful.
Louisiana’s position had been signalled before the litigation. In a December 2025 advisory, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board told licensed sports-betting businesses and platform providers that it considered purported sporting-event contracts and certain other event contracts illegal gambling under the state Criminal Code and Gaming Control Law. The board warned that involvement in offering or facilitating such contracts could affect a licensee’s or permittee’s suitability.
The Louisiana dispute is part of a broader state-level challenge to prediction markets. More than a dozen states have taken legal action against Kalshi, Polymarket or other operators, while the companies continue to argue that federal oversight pre-empts state gambling enforcement.
