A fourth state has introduced a bill banning sweepstakes casinos in the 2026 legislative session.
On Friday, two Mississippi lawmakers filed Senate Bill 2104, which makes several changes to the state’s gambling laws — including adding language classifying online sweepstakes casinos as illegal gambling.
Mississippi joins Maine, Indiana, and Florida as the states to have filed or pre-filed legislation targeting sweeps casinos in the 2026 session. Indiana lawmakers held the first committee hearing for that state’s bill Tuesday, Maine is set to begin consideration of its bill with a hearing on Jan. 14, and Florida has yet to assign a hearing date but its session opens Jan. 13.
SB2104 currently sits with the Senate Judiciary, Division B Committee and does not yet have a hearing scheduled.
What the bill says about ‘online sweepstakes casinos’
Mississippi was one of several states, along with Maryland, Arkansas, and Florida, to see its sweeps casino ban bill in 2025 fail. Mississippi’s bill did pass the Senate, but it fell apart after lawmakers balked at a late addition from the House that would have authorized sports betting.
Despite the bill’s collapse, regulators signaled a hardening stance toward sweepstakes operators when the Mississippi Gaming Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Chumba Casino in June.
All of that sets the stage for the introduction Friday of SB2104, which directly names sweepstakes gaming in several parts of its language.
There’s language in the bill that makes any device that plays a sweeps casino game a “gambling device”:
Any online, interactive, or computerized version of any game as defined in Section 75-76-5(k) or any other game of chance or digital simulation thereof, including, but not limited to, online race books, online sports pools, and online sweepstakes casino-style games, is hereby declared to be a gambling device, and the offering for play or operating an online or interactive platform that offers for play such games within the State of Mississippi shall be deemed unlawful under the provisions of this section.
Then there’s language that directly states: “‘online sweepstakes casinos’ are illegal gambling activities under state law.”
Stiff penalties, no mention of dual-currency
Beyond outlawing sweeps casinos, SB2104 also criminalizes any person or entity promoting an online sweepstakes casino.
Penalties for sweeps casinos and those promoting them include a fine of $100,000, up to 10 years in prison, and a potential forfeiture of assets to Mississippi.
Interestingly, the bill does not specifically mention the phrase “dual-currency” that other states, such as California and New York, have used to specifically call out the gaming model used by today’s sweeps casinos, with Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins as playable options, with only Sweeps Coins eligible to be redeemed for cash.
