Good afternoon, everybody.
Thanks for joining. I'm attorney
general Josh call, and I'm
here today to announce that the
Wisconsin Department of Justice
today has filed lawsuits
against multiple companies and
their affiliates, alleging that they
have been facilitating illegal
sports betting in Wisconsin.
The defendants in these cases
include Kelsche, Robin
Hood, Coinbase,
Polymarket, Crypto.com,
as well as affiliates
of those companies.
Now, except in limited
circumstances, sports betting
and other forms of commercial
gambling have long been illegal
in the state of Wisconsin.
No company is above this
law, no matter how
creatively those companies try to
disguise the activity that they're
engaged in.
As we allege in these lawsuits,
these companies have chosen to flout
Wisconsin law by this
thinly disguising the
sports betting that they facilitate
through what are called event
contracts.
But our position in this case is
that event contracts are no
different than ordinary sports bets.
The companies collect a fee, we
allege, for every bet that's
made, leading them to earn
significant revenue from
Wisconsinites through violations
of our state's gambling regulations.
So we are asking the court in this
to declare that making
sports-related events contracts
available for trading by customers
in Wisconsin is a violation
of Wisconsin statutes.
But these companies have repeatedly
and openly violated those laws,
and we're asking for the sports
betting that we allege is going on
and illegal to be shut down.
So that happy to answer any
questions folks have about
these new cases.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We will now take on topic questions
from media members.
If you have a question, please raise
your hand and I will call on you in
the order in which you ask your
question.
Once we call on, you we will promote
you to panelists that you may speak.
This may take a second.
As a reminder, if you're on your
phone, you can press star nine to
raise or lower your hand and star
six to mute or unmute yourself once
you're called on.
The first question will go to
Eric Gunn.
Thank you very much.
Is this just a Wisconsin case,
or is it a multi
state?
Are you with a number of other
states that are filing
also against these defendants?
This is a Wisconsin...
Specific case, though I would note,
Eric, there are similar cases
in a number of other states.
Next question goes to Matt Smith.
Attorney General, thank you.
Is this related at
all to the governor signing
the online forward-spinning bell.
Relationship between the two what we
are alleging is violations
of Wisconsin law and the
allegations would be the same
whether or not there had been
the new legislation passed the
only connection is that they they
relate to this same topic which is
online sports betting
Next question goes to Kate Morton.
Hi, um, quick question.
I was also wanting to ask about this
new law that Governor Evers signed.
Um, how, if at all, this could
play into that.
And also wouldn't this just,
you know, strengthen the tribe's
role in online gaming, if
and when these gaming compacts are
revised in the state?
Yeah, the new law won't have bearing
on what's alleged in this suit
because that the new
loss specifically relates to
gaming that is conducted through
facilities that are on tribal
lands in Wisconsin.
That's not the case in
in these cases.
And so the allegations here
are unimpacted by that new
legislation.
Next question goes to Todd Richmond.
Hi, two questions.
Can we get copies of these lawsuits
ASAP and also
what other states have sued
and similar
to this?
Yeah, so 1st, in terms of the
copies, we, if we haven't
already sent out a release, we will
be shortly that will
include a copy of the complaints.
So, if anybody needs that
and doesn't receive that, please
feel free to contact our office.
We'll, we'll get that to you in
terms. Of the states.
There are a handful
of states where there were lawsuits
that have been brought New York
state just recently filed 1,
and we can get you a more
comprehensive list.
Todd, if that's helpful.
There are also a number of states
where.
Companies that are alleged to have
engaged in this activity have
themselves preemptively
filed suits to
try to prevent the states from
bringing enforcement actions.
Next question goes to Kimberly.
Yeah, what is
your message to people who use
these apps who may be
impacted by this lawsuit?
Our focus in this case is on the
large companies that
are operating these.
As I mentioned, the defendants here
are Kelchee, Robinhood,
Coinbase, Polymarket,
Crypto.com, and their affiliates.
And so we are taking action to
uphold Wisconsin law and
ultimately seeking to
shut down the sports
gambling operations that we allege
that those companies are engaging in
in Wisconsin.
Next question goes to Jason.
Mr. Attorney General, thank you so
much for your time.
Do you know how much money these
companies have made on Wisconsin
bets?
We don't have Wisconsin specific
information in the complaint.
We make reference to reporting
that indicated that calcium,
for example, made about 1.3
billion dollars in a year.
That's that's not Wisconsin
specific, but we do know
is that, you know, and frankly, if
you watch television commercials
during a significant sporting event,
you can see this.
There's been widespread
promotion of this activity
and just simply
going online. You can see.
How an alleged sports event
could be placed.
Next question goes to Jesse.
Hi, thank you.
That's sort of technical question.
When you refer to event contracts,
is that interchangeable with
prediction markets or is it a
subset of that activity?
The platforms where this
is taking place are known as
prediction markets.
And what we allege is that the way
these companies have framed this is
that you can, on those prediction
markets, purchase what they
call an event contract.
And what allege here is that
the event contracts on sporting
events are indistinguishable
legally or practically for that
matter from sports betting and
constitute sports betting under
Wisconsin law.
Next question goes to Todd.
Yeah, I know that
you said there is no relationship
between the bill the governor signed
and these lawsuits, but the timing
is just blatant.
I'm wondering,
did the tribes request
that these lawsuits be filed or is
this a precursor to some
kind of the new compact negotiations
that the state must shut
these operations down at bequest
of the tribes?
Yeah, I guess a couple of things
I'll say, Todd. So first,
in terms of your question about the
timing, I mean, one thing that I
think is clear is that there
has been a huge increase
in this type of activity
that we allege is occurring in
recent years, and that has had a
number of consequences.
And I certainly think that that may
very well be linked to the fact that
there was legislative activity
on this topic recently.
Just as there has been litigation
activity.
But Wisconsin is not unique
in bringing
litigation activity on this topic,
like I mentioned.
As I indicated, New York,
for example, just recently filed
suit and there are suits in other
states as well.
Ultimately, in this case, the
decision that we make,
I'm certainly aware that there
are folks out there who want to see
these laws enforced, but the
decisions that we make are based on
the facts and the law, and that's
why. Drove our decision to file
this suit.
These suits, I should say.
Next question goes to Molly.
Hey, I was wondering if
you're seeking monetary damages and
if not, why not?
Our primary focus right now is on
shutting down the activity that
we allege is unlawful sports
betting that's being facilitated by
these defendants.
Now, as the case moves forward,
we are foreclosing
what we may do, but if
we think that there is an adequate
legal basis to seek
some sort of relief and that the
facts support that,
we're not foreclosen that, but right
now our primary focus is on
shutting down the activity that we
allege is
illegal sports betting.
The next question will go to Jason,
and this will be our last call for
questions. So if anyone else has a
question, please raise your hand
after Jason and we'll call on
you. Jason, you're next.
Does this complaint apply
to just sports or
does it also apply to wagers placed
on world events like the war in Iran
and politics like who's going to be
the next president?
The focus of these complaints is
sports betting specifically.
We allege that that's a
very large percentage in the case of
calcium, for example, of
what takes place on their
prediction market platform.
So, the focus of this is
specifically on sports
alleged sports beds.
Next question goes to Sarah.
Hi, the Trump administration
recently issued an order
reclassifying medical
marijuana as well as
FDA approved products that contain
marijuana and that's
medical marijuana in states that
license it.
Will this order have any effect on
Wisconsin and if so, what
and do you have any thoughts on what
this order might signal going
forward?
Yeah, I saw the reporting that there
has been this reclassification.
I have not yet had a chance to
analyze what the Trump
administration has said.
Of course, in Wisconsin,
currently marijuana is
criminalized.
And so where I think there
may be an impact is if the laws in
Wisconsin change, then we would
need to see how this federal update
applies with respect to
those changes of Wisconsin law.
All right, thank you.
We do not see any other hands
raised, so we are going to conclude
today's press conference.
Thank you all for joining.
If you have any further questions,
please don't hesitate to reach out
to the DOJ communications team
at DOJcommunicationsatdoj.state.wi.us.
Thank you.
Thanks everyone.