Wisconsin DOJ Sues Companies Over Alleged Illegal Sports Betting

MADISON, WI — The Wisconsin Department of Justice said Thursday it filed lawsuits in Dane County against Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and their affiliates, alleging the companies facilitate illegal sports betting in Wisconsin through sports-related “event contracts.”

The agency said the suits seek to halt what it described as unlawful commercial gambling and ask the court to declare the conduct a public nuisance.

“Thinly disguising unlawful conduct doesn’t make it lawful,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement.

“These companies’ alleged facilitation of sports betting in Wisconsin should be shut down.”

The DOJ said that, except in limited circumstances, sports betting and other forms of commercial gambling have long been illegal in Wisconsin.

The complaints allege the companies present sports betting on their online platforms as event contracts that pay out like ordinary bets based on the odds of sports-related outcomes.

The department also alleged the companies collect a fee for every bet made, generating revenue from Wisconsin customers in violation of state gambling laws.

The lawsuits request preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the companies from making sports-related event contracts available for trading by customers in Wisconsin.

The department also filed separate complaints involving Kalshi, Robinhood, and Coinbase and their affiliates; Polymarket and its affiliates; and Crypto.com and its affiliates.

As of Thursday, none of the companies had publicly responded to the lawsuits, though firms have pushed back on similar claims in other states.