Key points
- Ohio Sen. Bill DeMora is pushing two bills to bring prediction markets under state gambling law.
- Senate Bill 430 would treat sports event contracts as sports gaming, licensed by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
- Senate Bill 479 would ban election betting and election contracts on prediction markets.
- The Sixth Circuit ruled on 25 September 2026 that Ohio can enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi.
- Neither bill has left committee; both must be reintroduced if the session ends without a vote.
Ohio prediction market bills sponsored by state Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) would place sports event contracts under the state’s sports gaming rules and ban election betting. DeMora renewed the push after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on 25 September 2026 that Ohio can enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi.
The two Ohio prediction market bills
Senate Bill 430 states that using a prediction market to bet on a sporting event is sports gambling and falls under the same state regulations, according to DeMora’s office. Operators offering those contracts in Ohio would need a licence from the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) and would pay tax on them. DeMora introduced the bill on 27 April 2026.
Senate Bill 479, introduced on 13 October, would prohibit individuals from betting on elections and bar prediction markets from listing election-related contracts. DeMora’s office named Kalshi and Polymarket as examples of the platforms concerned. Democratic Sens. Nickie Antonio, Willis Blackshear Jr. and Casey Weinstein are co-sponsors, according to PlayUSA.
DeMora set out his case in a statement from the Ohio Senate on 15 October, saying the issue “is not a partisan issue” and “needs to be addressed immediately.”
“Ohio is losing out on tens of millions of dollars every month by not regulating these sites.”
Bill DeMora, Ohio state senator (D-Columbus)
DeMora did not publish how he arrived at that estimate.
What the Sixth Circuit decided
In KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler (No. 26-3196), a three-judge panel of Judges Clay, Gibbons and Bloomekatz upheld the Southern District of Ohio’s refusal to grant Kalshi a preliminary injunction against the OCCC. In the consolidated Tennessee appeal (No. 26-5235), the panel vacated an injunction that had blocked that state’s regulators.
Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote that Kalshi “has not shown that its sports-event contracts satisfy the statutory definition of a ‘swap’” under the Commodity Exchange Act. The court added that, even if the contracts were swaps, the federal law “neither expressly nor impliedly preempts Ohio’s or Tennessee’s gambling laws.” The ruling came at the preliminary stage; the underlying cases continue.
“This decision solidifies that prediction markets are not exempt from Ohio law and that they need to be regulated the same way other sports betting companies are.”
Bill DeMora, Ohio state senator (D-Columbus)
The Sixth Circuit joined the Ninth Circuit, which ruled against Kalshi in Nevada on 28 August, while the Third Circuit sided with the company in New Jersey. New Jersey has since asked the US Supreme Court to take the case.
Ohio regulators have moved on their own as well. The OCCC ordered 10 prediction markets to halt sports contracts in October and set its own licensees a 30 October deadline to exit prediction markets.
Next steps for the bills
Both bills are awaiting sponsor testimony in committee, according to DeMora’s office; SB 430 sits with the Senate Select Committee on Gaming. Bills not passed before the 136th General Assembly ends must be reintroduced when the new assembly convenes in January 2027.
In court, Kalshi petitioned for rehearing by the full Sixth Circuit on 9 October, and the court ordered Ohio and Tennessee to respond by 12 November, according to PlayUSA. The 25 September ruling stands unless the court grants that request.
