Connecticut Orders Nine Prediction Market Platforms to Stop Sports Wagers
Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection issued cease-and-desist orders to nine prediction market platforms this week, escalating the state's fight against exchanges offering sports-outcome contracts without a Connecticut gambling license. Governor Ned Lamont announced the action alongside nearly 30 subpoenas sent to gaming service providers and media organizations connected to the platforms.
What was announced
The nine companies named in the cease-and-desist orders are Polymarket, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Robinhood, ProphetX, Novig, Webull, Gemini, and Underdog Predict. Separately, DCP issued subpoenas to nine licensees and 15 media organizations as part of the same enforcement push, according to the governor's office. DCP Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli said the state's position is straightforward: "Our laws are clear: sports betting may only be offered by legal, licensed sportsbooks that adhere to our regulations."
Connecticut's announcement leaned on the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state's gaming statutes, and it also pointed to a federal court ruling from August that found sports event contracts amount to unlicensed gambling under existing law — part of the broader legal fight playing out over prediction markets in multiple states this year.
Why it matters to bettors
Connecticut currently licenses only three legal sportsbooks — DraftKings through Foxwoods, FanDuel through Mohegan Sun, and Fanatics through the Connecticut Lottery — and the state's announcement framed the crackdown as protecting that licensed, regulated market and its consumer protections, including the state's minimum sports-wagering age of 21. The state's own materials pointed to the scale of what's at stake nationally, citing an industry estimate that tens of billions of dollars could move through prediction markets tied to NFL outcomes this season, plus nearly $250 million in college football trading volume on the first day of the 2026 season alone.
This follows a pattern seen elsewhere on this site's coverage of state pushback against prediction markets, including prior actions in Michigan, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. For platforms and users in Connecticut, the immediate practical effect is a compliance deadline rather than an instant shutdown — how quickly named platforms restrict access, if at all, will likely depend on how each company responds to the order and to any related court proceedings, an area of law still actively being litigated across several states.