Kalshi is suing the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the state Attorney General’s office, saying the state has overstepped its authority by trying to stop it from offering sports futures betting.

In an Oct. 7 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, Kalshi says the efforts of the Ohio Casino Control Commission and Ohio Attorney General’s office have resulted in companies being nervous about doing business with them.

Kalshi is a predictive futures company, allowing users to place bets on real world events, including sporting events. The company calls its bets “events contracts,” court records say.

The complaint says representatives from Kalshi have communicated back and forth with the state for months to try to come to an agreement. Instead, court records say, the state said federal law doesn’t pre-empt the state’s ability to regulate sports gambling.

Legal sports betting in Ohio can only be conducted with an agency that has a sports gaming license issued by the state.

Kalshi’s complaint says the company received a cease-and-desist letter from the casino commission in early 2025. Other sports books have been told by the commission that doing business with Kalshi while they are unlicensed for sports gaming in Ohio could result in the commission taking action against those other sports books, the complaint says.

Kalshi also says in the complaint that the state told other sports books those consequences — including losing their license — could be imposed even if the business is done outside Ohio.

“If effectuated, the Casino Commission’s threat to these brokers would cut off Kalshi’s access to millions of users and key operators, and compound the extraordinary harm Kalshi would suffer as a result of the Casino Commission’s unlawful attempts at regulation,” the complaint says.

Kalshi is asking a federal judge for an injunction to prevent the state from stopping Kalshi from operating on Oct. 20.