The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has notified Kalshi of its intention to levy a $5m fine against the prediction market operator.
State Attorney General Dave Yost commented: “I wouldn’t bet on how long Kalshi will be operating in Ohio.”
As he also noted in a post on X, the state regulator already has the backing of federal judge Sarah Morrison, who ruled against Kalshi in March 2026.
If the penalty is confirmed, it would be the first time the company has been fined by a state gambling regulator, though disputes in other states continue to rumble on.
Multitude of accusations levelled at Kalshi
A notice of intent, signed by executive director of the OCCC Matthew Schuler, was delivered to Kalshi’s legal team on 14 April, asserting the Commission’s mandate to penalise the company for breaches of Ohio gaming law.
Kalshi has been operating in the state without an OCCC-issued licence since January 2025, according the regulator’s estimations.
It deems that the sports events contracts it offers constitute betting and warrant the monetary penalty.
The notice also charges Kalshi with having customers between the ages of 18 and 20 among its 35,000 users in the state, a demographic protected by Ohio law.
It also points out that Kalshi’s voluntary exclusion programme is less extensive than the Time Out Ohio programme, which is mandatory for the OCCC’s licensees.
Time Out Ohio enables users ban themselves from gambling outlets and platforms for periods spanning from one year up to their entire lifetime.
Separately, this week Kalshi became the first partner of IC360’s nationwide prediction market exclusion tool.
History between Kalshi and Ohio
The long-running legal stand-off stems from a cease-and-desist letter filed by the Commission in April 2025.
In October, Kalshi responded by asking for a federal injunction to block the gambling regulator from exercising its authority.
Judge Morrison denied the request last month, citing a responsibility to “avoid absurdity,” in what was one of Kalshi’s most clear-cut legal reversals.
Kalshi’s familiar defence – that having to halt operations in Ohio would cause irreparable injury to customer trust, reputation, and finances – was dismissed by the court.
The company’s concerns were said to be “dwarfed by Ohio’s interest in exercising its police power, enforcing its duly-enacted laws and regulating sports gambling to promote the public welfare.”
Kalshi does have the right to request a hearing to dispute the fine.