Baltimore filed separate Aug. 13 lawsuits in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against Kalshi and Polymarket, alleging their sports event contracts amount to illegal sports betting offered without Maryland licenses. Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Baltimore City Council said the platforms let residents wager on game winners, point spreads, point totals, player statistics and other sportsbook-style outcomes while using labels such as event contracts or prediction-market trades that, in the city's view, do not change the substance of the products. The complaints cite Baltimore's Consumer Protection Ordinance and seek injunctions, civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation per day, restitution and disgorgement, arguing the companies sidestep taxes, oversight and responsible-gambling safeguards while misleading consumers about whether the products are legal and properly regulated. The cases deepen a broader fight over whether sports-related prediction markets are federally regulated derivatives or gambling products subject to state and local rules. Other challenges already include actions in Kentucky, Wisconsin, Nevada and New York City. Kalshi is separately fighting a suit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, secured an emergency CFTC order allowing it to keep operating in New York, and briefly faced a FlightAware lawsuit over flight-cancellation markets. Polymarket has contended with the loss of JPMorgan banking services, a move to another lender, and a Washington, D.C., consumer case accusing the company, CEO Shayne Coplan and Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Modabber of deceptive U.S.-targeted marketing.