The calendar has turned from May to June, meaning we’re officially in the crunchiest of crunch time for lawmakers in states trying to pass bills banning online sweepstakes casinos — and for lobbyists trying to prevent that from happening.
In many states, there are just days remaining in the current legislative session.
Translation: These past few days have been hectic for legislation regarding the sweeps industry, and don’t expect anything to slow down in the coming days.
Bills in Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Maryland have long since stalled out. You can add Illinois and Texas to that list, too, where legislative deadlines came and went without any action on their sweeps ban bills (or, in Texas’ case, a bill that could have banned sweeps sites). Meanwhile, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed his state’s newly passed bill into law, Nevada passed a bill strengthening enforcement against sweeps operators, and another two states just passed their bills in both chambers and have sent them off for a governor’s signature.
To help wrap your head around it all, here are the latest updates on all still-active bills that would effectively ban sweeps casinos in their states.
Connecticut
On Tuesday, Senate Bill 1235 passed in the Connecticut House. It already passed the Senate in late May, meaning both chambers have approved the bill and it is now off to Gov. Ned Lamont for a signature or veto. If he vetoes, a two-third majority vote in both chambers would be required to override.
SB 1235 is interesting in the fact that, not only does it ban sweepstakes casinos in Connecticut, but it also bans lottery courier apps such as Jackpocket and Jackpot.com.
The bill outlaws any sweepstakes promotion that “allows or facilitates participation in any real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering, unless such person is licensed under chapter.”
SB 1235 only formalizes what is already in practice, as most sweeps operators have already pulled out of Connecticut anyway.
Louisiana
Also this week, Senate Bill 181 passed in the Louisiana House, which means it’s on its way to Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk for a signature. If he vetoes, two-thirds majority votes in both the Senate and the House would be required to override.
The Social and Promotional Games Association, one of two sweeps advocacy groups along with the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance, released a statement regarding the passage of SB181 on Tuesday, calling it “a step backward for consumer choice, lawful innovation, and common sense.”
“We’re disappointed by yesterday’s vote in the Louisiana House. Legal sweepstakes platforms operate under well-established guidelines and are used by millions of adults, including Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and Starbucks, to engage consumers through lawful, free-to-play promotions,” an SPGA spokesperson said in the statement. “This bill carelessly conflates legal entertainment with illegal gambling, without evidence of harm. It also threatens Louisiana’s economy by stifling digital innovation and driving compliant companies out of the state.”
The SPGA has previously argued SB181 could unintentionally penalize other businesses in regulated industries that use sweepstakes promotions, such as hotel or airline rewards programs.
During one of SB181’s hearings, Sen. Adam Bass, the bill’s sponsor, addressed that argument.
“I want to say, regardless of what you’ve heard, this bill does not affect legitimate promotions, such as McDonald’s Monopoly, Starbucks or Marriott rewards,” Bass said. “This bill narrowly defines sweepstakes casinos. We know the gaming control board and attorney general have no interest in going after Starbucks or Marriott or McDonald’s and are solely focused on putting an end to sweepstakes casinos in this state.”
New York
There are two sweeps ban bills in New York, although it appears focus is being directed toward just one right now.
Sen. Joseph Addabbo’s Senate Bill 5935 has sat stagnant since the end of April, but its companion bill, Assembly Bill 6745, passed the Assembly Codes Committee and was referred to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee at the end of May.
Still, the state’s legislative session ends June 12, and AB6745 would have to pass the Assembly committee stage, then pass an Assembly floor vote, then pass through the same two stages in the Senate, all within less than two weeks.
All that is to say: We don’t expect sweeps legislation to pass in New York this session. It’s also widely thought that New York likely won’t seriously touch any sweeping gambling legislation until the downstate retail casino license bidding process is all sorted out. A June 27 deadline looms for the bids, but the licenses aren’t expected to be handed out until late 2025. (So, really, judging based on previous delays, early 2026.)
Here was the SPGA’s response to New York’s legislation: “SPGA calls on New York legislators to stop this reckless march toward economic self-sabotage and reject this deeply flawed bill before it inflicts lasting damage.”
However, even the idea of legislation passing in New York has spurred many operators to voluntarily pull their sweeps promotions out of the state. Most notably, VGW, the owner of Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker, told Sweepsy last week it was shutting down its sweeps platform in New York in a decision that “wasn’t taken lightly.”
New Jersey
It looks like focus on sweeps in the New Jersey Legislature may have switched from the Assembly to the Senate.
Originally, Assembly Bill 5447 was the state’s sweeps ban bill. But now its companion bill, Senate Bill 4282, appears to be the one gaining traction. It passed its first committee in late May and now awaits hearing before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
Whether AB5447 or SB4282 winds up taking legislative focus in the long term, there’s plenty of time, as the New Jersey legislative session doesn’t end until the end of the year.
Ohio
Ohio is the most recent state to consider a sweeps ban bill, as House Bill 298 was filed in late May and had a hearing Tuesday before the House Finance Committee. Like New Jersey, Ohio’s legislative session doesn’t end until Dec. 31, 2025, so HB298 has plenty of time.
States where bills failed to pass
Illinois
In Illinois, Senate Bill 1705 would have outlawed online sweeps casinos, but it didn’t budge since April and stalled out as the state’s legislative session ended May 31.
Texas
Although it never directly mentioned sweepstakes casinos, Texas Senate Bill 517 included language that could have been construed to include online sweeps gaming — mainly how it broadened the definition of “thing of value” in the context of gambling to include: “any property, money, right, privilege, or other benefit, including a gift card or any other representation of value redeemable for any property, money, right, privilege, or other benefit.”
However, sweeps advocates need not worry about interpretation of that language, as the Texas legislative deadline was Monday and SB517 didn’t see any movement in the House after passing the Senate in early May.
