Prediction Market Site Novig Goes on the Offensive
Mike Goodpaster Published 18/08/2026
Only recently licensed as a prediction market site in the U.S., Novig is going on the offensive. Since being granted an operator's license, the prediction market site has filed suit in five separate U.S. states. Wisconsin is the latest state in which Novig is taking it to the courts. Rather than waiting for states to come after it with legal action to shut down its operation, as has been the case with Kalshi and Polymarket, Novig is going on the offensive.
By filing preemptive suits, Novig is looking to gain an advantage. They hope to win injunctions, rather than seek stays when injunctions are imposed against the site by state action.
Novig evidently believes offense is the best defense
In seeking to defend its sports-event contracts, Novig is borrowing from an old sporting adage. It's the one that suggests the best defense is a strong offense.
All of the lawsuits involving prediction market sites battling state governments or state gambling regulators have involved the prediction market sites and their federal regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), playing defense. They've been responding to legal action taken against them by the states.
Novig's approach is to flip the litigation script. Instead of reacting to actions taken to halt their operation, they are acting to create an environment in which they can operate without worrying about being suddenly shut down. The company is seeking to secure a federal declaratory judgment, rather than going to court to seek a stay against an injunction won by the state.
As Jason Bateman's character notes in the film Dodgeball, it's a bold strategy. Let's see how it works out for them.
Wisconsin is the latest state to he sued by Novig
Novig is just beginning to launch in states. They are seeking to pave the way for a smooth takeoff by first going to court.
Wisconsin is the latest venue for a Novig lawsuit. On Monday, the company filed a federal lawsuit against Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and Gaming Administrator John Dillett. Novig is seeking to block state enforcement against its sports-event contracts. This preemptive action recognizes that previously, Wisconsin filed suit against Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Crypto.com, and Coinbase in April over their sports-event contracts.
The 45-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin was filed shortly after Novig launched its event-contract service for Wisconsin users.
Unlike rivals such as Kalshi and Polymarket, Novig solely offers sports-event contracts on its platform. Thus, any bid to forbid the company from offering sports-event contracts would shut Novig down for all intents and purposes.
This is the company's fifth lawsuit
The Wisconsin lawsuit is the fifth filed by Novig. The company had previously filed suits in New York, New Mexico, Massachusetts, and Washington.
In each suit, the argument is the same, and it's familiar to anyone following the saga of U.S. prediction markets and sports-event contracts.
Novig is arguing that its sports contracts qualify as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act. Since that also means they fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction, it makes them ineligible to be ruled over by a state entity.
Wisconsin's counterargument, used in court against other prediction market sites, is that event contracts connected to sports results are sports betting under state law. Without a state sports betting license, that means each of these sites is offering illegal sports betting.
Novig was given CFTC approval as a Ludlow Exchange designated contract market (DCM) on June 16.