Robinhood Derivatives, LLC is seeking to enjoin Massachusetts regulators from enforcing preempted Massachusetts law against the company for its facilitation of transactions involving sports-related event contracts.

On September 15, 2025, Robinhood filed a complaint with the Massachusetts District Court. The document, seen by FX News Group, names the following defendants:

• Defendant Andrea Joy Campbell is sued in her official capacity as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• Defendant Jordan Maynard is sued in his official capacity as the Chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
• Defendant Eileen O’Brien is sued in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
• Defendant Bradford R. Hill is sued in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
• Defendant Nakisha Skinner is sued in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
• Defendant Paul Brodeur is sued in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

The complaint alleges that Robinhood offers its approved customers the opportunity to trade, among other things, sports-related event contracts through the Robinhood platform. While Robinhood facilitates the placement and liquidation of event contracts for its customers, the contracts themselves trade on KalshiEx LLC’s exchange.

Thus, while Robinhood’s approved customers can access event contracts trading through Robinhood’s platform, all actual trades occur on Kalshi’s regulated exchange.

On September 12, 2025, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by and through its Attorney General, Andrea Joy Campbell, filed a lawsuit against Kalshi for allegedly “offering sports wagering without a license in violation of G.L. c. 23N, § 5 et seq.”

Massachusetts seeks monetary relief and a permanent injunction enjoining Kalshi “from engaging in sports wagering without a license in violation of G.L. c. 23N.” Id. at 42. In its Complaint, Massachusetts explicitly refers to Robinhood and its contractual relationship with Kalshi, alleging that “the availability of Kalshi’s contracts are not limited to Kalshi’s platform, but are also available on Robinhood, a stock-trading platform accessible via app and webpage.”

Massachusetts further alleges that “approximately $1 billion worth of Kalshi wagers were traded on Robinhood during the second quarter of the year, which likely generated an estimated $10 million in revenue for Kalshi.”

Also on September 12, 2025, Massachusetts filed an Emergency Motion for a Preliminary Injunction seeking to enjoin Kalshi from “engaging in any activity in connection with sports wagering in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” “until further order of the Court.”

Kalshi has twice won preliminary relief against state regulators seeking to enforce their gambling or gaming laws against its facilitation of transactions involving sports-related event contracts.

Robinhood also has ongoing litigation in these jurisdictions concerning the same issues and seeking similar relief.

In light of Massachusetts’s complaint against Kalshi, in which Massachusetts sets forth allegations explicitly referring to Robinhood and the availability of Kalshi’s contracts on Robinhood’s platform, and motion for preliminary injunction filed against Kalshi, and because Robinhood intermediates its customers’ event contract trades, including sports-related event contract trades, on Kalshi’s exchange, there is a real and imminent threat that Massachusetts will file a similar complaint and motion against Robinhood.

Were it to do so, Robinhood would face an immediate threat of civil penalties and potentially criminal penalties as well, along with the attendant reputational harm that such an enforcement proceeding would cause. Robinhood’s Massachusetts customers would also face abruptly losing access to sports-related event contract trading through their Robinhood account.

Robinhood requests that the Court enjoin Defendants from enforcing preempted Massachusetts law against Robinhood for its facilitation of transactions involving sports-related event contracts.