Private civil suit
Hughes v. DraftKings Inc., et al.
U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (removed from the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas), 2:26-cv-03838; 2026CP1004063 (Charleston County)
Pending
Removed to federal court on Sept. 2, 2026 and assigned to Judge Richard M. Gergel. A litigation tracker reports the plaintiff has moved to remand, with DraftKings' response due Oct. 29, 2026 (not docket-verified).
The question
Whether a South Carolina resident can recover sports event contract losses from exchanges, clearinghouses and market makers under state gambling-loss law, and whether the case belongs in state or federal court (theory per trackers; complaint not reviewed).
James M. Hughes sued DraftKings' prediction-market entities, Polymarket's operators, Crypto.com's derivatives exchange, CME, Bitnomial's clearinghouse and several trading firms in Charleston County state court in 2026. A litigation tracker groups it with gambling-loss recovery suits over sports event contracts. DraftKings removed the case to federal court in Charleston on Sept. 2, 2026, and the tracker reports a pending motion to remand. The plaintiff's claims are allegations; the complaint was not reviewed.
Docket timeline
A litigation tracker reports the plaintiff moved to remand, with DraftKings' response due Oct. 29, 2026 (motion date not given; not docket-verified).
Source: mickbransfield.com
DraftKings Inc., GUS III LLC and Railbird Exchange LLC removed the case from the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas (No. 2026CP1004063); the removal papers show voluntary dismissals of DRW Holdings and IMC-Chicago in state court.
Source: dockets.justia.com