The Story Google Data Tells In Sweeps Regulation vs. Ban Debate

States eye sweeps bans, but Google trends show players flocking to offshore sites. Could smart regulation protect consumers better than driving them underground?

Remember when the first bill addressing sweepstakes gaming in 2025 was actually written to regulate the industry, not ban it?

In January, New Jersey Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese introduced Assembly Bill 5196, which would have created a regulatory structure for sweeps casinos in which the operator would need to partner with a brick-and-mortar casino, be 21-plus, and pay the same 15% revenue tax as real-money iGaming operators.

However, Calabrese later pulled AB5196 in April … after introducing a separate bill, Assembly Bill 5447, which would ban sweeps operators in New Jersey. And that bill is currently advancing through the committee stages in the Assembly.

So far, no other state has seen a sweeps regulation bill introduced.

That begs the question of motivation.

If the intent of a sweeps ban bill is to protect existing online gambling operators in the state, so be it. You could make arguments either way as to the validity of that stance, and there are fair points to be made on both sides.

If the intent of a sweeps ban bill is to protect consumers, though, there are still valid points on both sides, but things can get a bit murky.

Especially in states with no legal online gambling, one can make a strong argument that banning sweeps sites could push online players toward illegal offshore betting sites that are notorious for poor, unchecked treatment of customers. Meanwhile, regulating sweeps sites — again, especially in states with no current real-money online gambling — would provide a safer space for this type of activity and prevent customers from accessing the Bovadas of the world.

“The SPGA continues to call for fact-based policymaking and smart, balanced regulation that protects consumers, supports innovation, and allows millions of adult Americans to continue to enjoy free-to-play sweepstakes games safely and legally,” a spokesperson for the Social and Promotional Games Association told Sweepsy.

Sweeps opponents may counter this argument by saying the dual-currency Sweeps Coin model of gaming is similarly exploitative as the practices of these offshore sites, as they have argued throughout 2025.

“[Sweeps operators] deploy legal acrobatics to avoid calling themselves betting or gambling,” said American Gambling Association President Bill Miller in February, “only then to offer products that most would most universally would agree are gambling, yet without the safeguards and regulatory constraints that build consumer trust.”

But, for now, let’s look at Google search data. It goes beyond talking points and illustrates what consumers are currently searching for, and that can help inform whether sweeps regulation or a ban would be more universally helpful.

Who’s flocking to Bovada?

First, we checked where people are searching most for “Bovada,” the most popular offshore betting site, over the last 30 days.

Google Trends ranks states by what percent of total searches in that state were for the given search term. That way, population is irrelevant — it’s about proportion of searches, rather than search volume.

Here’s the top 10:

Mississippi — Online gambling is largely illegal, except for online sports betting when on the premises of a retail casino. The percentage of “Bovada” searches was more than twice as high as the second state on the list. Mississippi nearly passed a sweeps ban bill, but it failed after an online sports betting amendment was tacked onto it.
Alabama — No regulated real-money online gambling of any kind.
Georgia — Nothing is allowed, other than the online lottery.
California — Again, nothing allowed. No online sports betting, no online casinos.
Texas — Same story. No online gambling. And a bill advancing through the legislature could potentially target sweeps casinos.
South Carolina — Nothing.
New Mexico — Also … nothing.
Minnesota — Zilch.
Alaska — Nada.
Wisconsin — Nope.

So … the 10 states where “Bovada” searches are most popular all don’t have online casinos or online sports betting. That doesn’t feel like a coincidence. However, only one of these states considered a sweeps ban bill this year. (We’ll see how things progress with the Texas bill.)

Chumba Casino is more popular than Bovada, at least in Google Searches

Over the last 30 days, “Chumba Casino” searches have been 28.3% more popular than “Bovada” searches. Here’s the top 10 for “Chumba Casino” searches — and there’s some crossover with the previous list:

Mississippi
Alabama
Arkansas
North Dakota
Louisiana
Oklahoma
Minnesota
New Mexico
Indiana
Iowa

Five of the top 10 were also in the “Bovada” top 10. Mississippi was No. 1 for both. Louisiana, at No. 5, is one of four states with active sweeps ban bills still progressing through the legislature.

Biggest takeaway: 33.3%

Finally, here’s a look at the 10 states where “sweepstakes casinos” searches are most popular over the last 30 days:

Arkansas
Oklahoma
Minnesota
Mississippi
North Dakota
Texas
Indiana
Iowa
California
New Mexico

A couple overall notes:

One, holy smokes, Mississippi, you are active in your sweeps and offshore Google searches.

And, two, of the 18 states tied to searches that would funnel customers to potentially unsafe, offshore sites, five have taken some form of action against sweeps operators this year — either considered a bill or issued a cease-and-desist — and one (Washington) does allow sweeps gaming. So that’s 33.3%.

Would adding regulated sweeps gaming steer some of those customers away from searching for “Bovada” or “no kyc casino” or “no id casino”?

That’s up to stakeholders, legislators, gambling commissions, and lobbyists to hash out. But it’s interesting to consider.

About The Author

Matthew Bain