Case: 2:25-cv-01165-SDM-CMV Doc #: 69 Filed: 03/09/26 Page: 5 of 21 PAGEID #: 898
sports betting in 2022) (citing Murphy v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n , 584 U.S.
453 (2018)). Even still, sports gambling “cannot be offered in Ohio without a license
issued by the Commission.” (ECF No. 1-1 (citing Ohio Rev. Code § 3775.03(A).)
Licensees must then comply with Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3775. Among other
things, Chapter 3775 prohibits sports gambling for people under age 21 and for
identified problem gamblers. Ohio Rev. Code §§ 3775.13, 3775.99(A)(2). As the
Commission pointed out in its letter, Kalshi does not have a sports gambling license
and only age-gates its platform for those under 18. (ECF No. 1-1.) The Commission
also sent a letter to sports gambling licensees advising that companies that offer
sports-event contracts “are operating online sports gaming”; the Commission
warned that a licensee’s decision to affiliate with an unlicensed sports gaming
operator may form the basis of Commission action against the licensee. (ECF No.
31-1, PAGEID # 428–29.)
The parties engaged in fact-finding and dialog for more than six months
before the State demanded Kalshi comply with Ohio’s sports gambling laws. (ECF
Nos. 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4.) This suit followed.
II.
LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 governs the issuance of a preliminary
injunction. “A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy which should be
granted only if the movant carries his or her burden of proving that the
circumstances clearly demand it.” Overstreet v. Lexington-Fayette Urb. Cnty. Gov’t ,
305 F.3d 566, 573 (6th Cir. 2002); see also EOG Res., Inc. v. Lucky Land Mgmt.,
LLC , 134 F.4th 868, 874 (6th Cir. 2025) (quoting Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney , 602
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