A judge in Nevada state court has ordered Polymarket to stop offering any event contracts in the state for an initial period of two weeks.
Judge Jason Woodbury granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s (NGCB) request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prohibit Polymarket from offering event contracts on sports and other things while the gaming regulator’s lawsuit against the platform continues.
The court order dated Jan. 29 stated that the NGCB is “reasonably likely to prevail on the merits of the underlying case.” The judge’s determination compels Polymarket to refrain from offering event contracts for an initial period of 14 days from the date of the order, until a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction that is currently scheduled for Feb. 11. Polymarket could file in opposition to the ruling.
Every day matters to Nevada, says judge
The NGCB sued Blockratize Inc., the corporate entity behind Polymarket, in Carson City District Court in mid-January, asserting that Polymarket’s event contracts constitute “unlicensed wagering in violation of Nevada law.” The board reiterated its stance that sports and certain other event contracts are illegal without a sports wagering license and that federal law should not preempt state gaming laws when it comes to event contracts.
Judge Woodbury cited decisions in federal lawsuits involving other prediction market platforms such as Kalshi, writing that “the balance of convincing legal authority weighs against federal preemption in this context.”
He added that the fact that Polymarket offers event contracts, including on college basketball games, college and professional football games and elections, in Nevada means that there is the potential for “immediate, irreparable” harm to the state.
“An unlicensed participant beyond the Board’s control, such as Polymarket, obstructs the Board’s ability to fulfill its statutory functions,” wrote the judge. “The resulting harm in evasion of Nevada’s ‘comprehensive regulatory structure’ and ‘strict licensing standards’ is immediate, irreparable and not sufficiently remediable by compensatory damages.
“[That harm] exacerbates with each day that Polymarket operates in Nevada outside the authority of the board. A day means more consumers. More consumers means more transactions. More transactions means more potential harm to the board. As such, every day matters in this case in a literal sense.”
Polymarket still in beta launch mode in US
Polymarket has a thriving global platform but only officially returned to the U.S. market in December after nearly four years away, opening event contract trading nationwide for waitlisted users. It acquired CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse QCEX in July 2025 and said in September that the CFTC had cleared it to offer “legal sports betting” in all 50 states.
As it ramps up towards a full U.S. re-launch, Polymarket has signed a flurry of deals with new partners that range from the NHL to fantasy sports and event contracts operator PrizePicks to Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.
However, unless anything changes soon, it will be prevented from offering any contracts on sports in the U.S. until after the Super Bowl. Polymarket’s limited initial U.S. relaunch did not include listing NFL contracts.
Kalshi and Crypto.com also in court in NV
While Polymarket competitor Kalshi, which has been offering sports contracts across the U.S. since early 2025, is involved in federal court cases with states and gaming regulators in numerous jurisdictions, Nevada’s state court filing against Polymarket was the first litigation brought against the platform since it announced plans to return to the U.S.
The NGCB went on the offensive by suing Polymarket; in the Kalshi case, the prediction markets platform sued the regulator after the board hit it with a cease-and-desist order. In November, federal Judge Andrew Gordon reversed his earlier preliminary decision to grant Kalshi a TRO and ruled that the NGCB could enforce its C&D. Kalshi appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit.
Meanwhile, another prediction markets site that offers sports contracts in the U.S., Crypto.com, told SBC Americas that it no longer offers sports in many states that have sent the company cease-and-desist letters. It pulled down sports contracts in Nevada after Gordon denied the company’s request for a preliminary injunction against the NGCB in October.
