Baltimore has taken legal action against prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing both companies of offering illegal sports betting in the city.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Baltimore City Council filed separate lawsuits on August 13 in the Circuit Court. The cases allege violations of Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance and accuse the companies of misleading consumers about whether their products are legal and properly regulated.

Illegal Sports Betting

The complaints claimed that Kalshi and Polymarket allow Baltimore residents to bet on game winners, point spreads, point totals, player statistics, and other outcomes commonly offered by licensed sportsbooks. The companies describe these products as “event contracts” or prediction-market trades. According to the officials, the label does not change what the products are.

Neither platform, according to the lawsuits, has the licenses required to offer sports betting in Maryland. The city said that this lets them compete with regulated sportsbooks while avoiding the oversight, taxation, responsible-gambling requirements, and consumer protections imposed on licensed operators.

Questions have also been raised about how the companies promote their platforms. Baltimore alleged that Kalshi and Polymarket market their platforms in ways that can create a false or misleading impression that the offerings are legal and properly regulated. The city added that this can make gambling more accessible and expose vulnerable consumers, including young adults and people with gambling addictions, to financial harm.

Baltimore is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief, restitution for affected consumers, disgorgement of alleged ill-gotten profits, and other relief allowed under law.

Legal Battles on Multiple Fronts

The two companies are already dealing with several other legal and regulatory disputes. For example, Kalshi recently faced a lawsuit from New York State Attorney General Letitia James seeking to shut down its operations in the state. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission then used its emergency authority to require Kalshi to continue operating in New York after the company sought federal help. The agency said the order followed the platform’s request for assistance after the state lawsuit was filed at the end of July.

It also faced a lawsuit from flight-tracking company FlightAware over flight-related prediction markets. FlightAware accused Kalshi of using its data and name without permission to host markets on flight cancellations. But the case was withdrawn just a day later. Its lawyers said the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice against all defendants.

Polymarket has faced separate problems as well. JPMorgan Chase stopped providing banking services to it late last year. Polymarket has since moved to another lender, although its name has not been disclosed.

A separate consumer protection lawsuit has also been filed against it in Washington, D.C. The National Association of Consumer Advocates alleges that the company, CEO Shayne Coplan, and Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Modabber ran “flagrantly deceptive” social media advertising campaigns that promoted Polymarket to American consumers and encouraged betting on a platform that was not technically available in the US.

The complaint also refers to reports of political influencers praising Polymarket’s accuracy without disclosing paid deals. It cites a Wall Street Journal investigation that found viral videos using simulated versions of the platform to suggest creators had won bets.

Source: CryptoPotato