Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the City Council filed lawsuits Thursday against prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing the companies of illegally offering unlicensed sports betting to Baltimore residents.

The lawsuits, filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, allege the companies violated the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance by offering what the city says are effectively sports wagers while portraying them as federally regulated “event contracts.”

City officials argue that neither company is licensed by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to offer sports betting and that the platforms avoid requirements imposed on licensed sportsbooks, including Maryland’s minimum betting age of 21.

“These companies are running sportsbooks without licenses and betting that a new label will put them above the law,” Scott said. “It won’t.”

The city is seeking to stop the companies from offering the disputed sports-wagering products to Baltimore residents, along with civil penalties.

Kalshi has pushed back, calling the lawsuit “political theater” and maintaining that it operates legally as a federally regulated prediction market.