The MGCB publicly announced these enforcement actions on January 18, 2024, having issued the underlying cease-and-desist orders between October and December 2023. The Board classified each operator as conducting unlicensed gaming and sports betting in violation of LIGA, the LSBA, the MGCRA, and the Michigan Penal Code. All three operators exited the Michigan market without legal challenge. None applied for an MGCB internet gaming licence.

The MGCB has since issued further cease-and-desist orders against six additional unlicensed sweepstakes casino operators in 2025, whose names were not publicly disclosed. Full enforcement has been in effect since mid-2025, and no major sweepstakes platform serves Michigan residents as of May 2026.

Michigan AG Dana Nessel filed a 22-page civil complaint against KalshiEX LLC in Ingham County Circuit Court on March 3, 2026. The complaint alleges that Kalshi's sports event contracts, including spreads, totals, and player proposition bets (the complaint cited a market on whether the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards would combine for over 224.5 points), constitute internet sports betting wagers under MCL 432.403, which requires an MGCB licence to offer legally in Michigan. Michigan is seeking a declaratory judgment that Kalshi operates as a sports betting app and a permanent injunction to stop it operating in Michigan.

Kalshi removed the case to federal court. The federal court is reviewing whether to retain jurisdiction or return the case to state court. Michigan chose to sue in state court rather than send a cease-and-desist order first, making it only the second state in the country to do so (Massachusetts was the first).

The day after the Michigan AG sued Kalshi, Polymarket filed a federal lawsuit against the Michigan AG and the MGCB, seeking to block enforcement of Michigan gambling laws against its prediction market contracts on Commodity Exchange Act preemption grounds. Coinbase filed a separate federal lawsuit in December 2025 on the same preemption theory. Robinhood filed a further federal lawsuit in March 2026. The court denied Polymarket's motion for a temporary restraining order on March 10, 2026, and Polymarket's motion for a preliminary injunction was set to proceed.

Michigan has become the centre of the most complex multi-party prediction market litigation in the US. All four cases rest on the same federal preemption question. Michigan sits in the Sixth Circuit, which has thus far favoured states over prediction market operators in the Ohio case (KalshiEX v. Schuler), though no Michigan-specific circuit ruling has yet been issued.

The MGCB announced a formal investigation into platforms offering unlicensed sports prediction market contracts in Michigan, citing concerns about consumer protection and market fairness. The same month, MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams wrote to the CFTC expressing those concerns. The investigation preceded the AG's civil lawsuit against Kalshi by eleven months and established the regulatory record on which the lawsuit is partly based.

Michigan has had legal online casino, sportsbook, and poker since January 2021. The MGCB is one of the most active gaming regulators in the country and has genuine enforcement power, including the ability to investigate, sanction, and revoke licences. Players with unresolved disputes with a licensed operator can file a formal complaint at michigan.gov/mgcb. This accountability structure is unavailable for sweepstakes or prediction market platforms.

Stake.us, Chumba Casino (VGW), LuckyLand Slots, and every other major sweepstakes platform has exited Michigan and is inaccessible to residents. No operator has applied for an MGCB licence, and no licence pathway exists for sweepstakes-only entities. Do not attempt to circumvent geo-restrictions using a VPN. Doing so violates the platform's terms of service and may also constitute fraud under Michigan law. The MGCB's stance has not softened and there is no active legislative push to change it.

Kalshi remains accessible to Michigan residents but is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by the Michigan AG seeking a permanent injunction. Unlike Ohio, where enforcement came through a regulatory fine, Michigan went directly to court. Polymarket's attempt to obtain a TRO to block enforcement was denied in March 2026. No platform has been ordered to shut down yet, but the AG's enforcement goal is a permanent ban on sports event contracts in Michigan. Balances on Kalshi's sports event contracts in Michigan carry execution risk that balances on licensed sportsbook accounts do not.

Players who read that Kalshi "won" in a federal court in April 2026 should note that ruling was in the Third Circuit (covering NJ, PA, DE). Michigan is in the Sixth Circuit, which denied Kalshi's emergency stay in the Ohio case and has not issued a ruling favourable to prediction markets. The circuit split is live and unresolved. Follow the Kalshi circuit split analysis for updates relevant to Michigan.

Unlike states where sweepstakes casinos fill a void left by the absence of licensed casino gaming, Michigan residents have full access to licensed real-money online casino games, sports betting, and poker. The sweepstakes market's absence in Michigan is therefore less impactful than in the majority of US states. MGCB-licensed casinos offer the same game types as sweepstakes platforms, under full regulatory oversight, with player funds held in segregated accounts and dispute recourse through the MGCB.

BetMGM holds MGCB licences for both internet gaming and sports betting in Michigan, offering online casino, sportsbook, and poker. Players in Michigan have full MGCB complaint escalation rights — meaningful protection unavailable on any unregulated alternative.