A bill in Virginia that would, if passed, count as a significant victory for the sweepstakes casino industry is officially on the books for the 2027 legislative session.
Senate Bill 579 would order the Virginia Lottery Board to study the potential impact of a regulated sweeps gaming market in the state. It is now formally labeled as “continued from last session” — meaning the legislation is formally still alive and will likely come back before the Senate Courts of Justice Committee when the 2027 session begins in January.
At that point the committee can pass it, amend it further, or let it die.
The first of its kind?
No state has ever ordered a formal study of the sweepstakes casino industry. Virginia could become the first with SB579.
Ironically, SB579 was first introduced last January as a ban on sweeps casinos. In February, the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice rewrote it, replacing the ban with a mandate to examine the industry. That amended version is the one carried into 2027.
Under the committee’s substitute, the bill reads:
The Virginia Lottery Board shall convene a work group of relevant stakeholders, including representatives from the online sweepstakes and social games industry, to study the legal, economic, technological, and public policy implications of interactive online sweepstakes games and to report its findings and any recommendations resulting from such study. In conducting such study, the work group shall (i) review the ways in which sweepstakes have been used as a marketing and promotional tool for online and retail businesses, including online social games and licensed casino operators; (ii) determine and identify any differences between online sweepstakes games and real-money gambling or internet gaming; (iii) develop a definition for “online sweepstakes games”; and (iv) conduct any other relevant research as necessary.
For sweepstakes casinos, the amendment alone counted as a minor victory. Should the bill pass in 2027 and the study actually take place, the win would be considerably larger. Tennessee came close to a similar study when an amendment to its sweepstakes ban proposed one, but that amendment failed. The ban itself passed and took effect in May.
Essentially the same thing as pre-filing a bill
The original SB579 added “operating, conducting, or promoting of any online sweepstakes game” and “supporting or assisting in the operating, conducting, or promoting of any online sweepstakes game” to Virginia’s list of illegal gambling activities.
In addition to amending the bill on Feb. 11, the Courts of Justice Committee voted 14-1 to continue SB579 to the next session. The committee chose neither to advance the bill nor to defeat it, effectively putting action on hold.
Now, by being officially “continued from last session” in the database, SB579 is now formally eligible to be reconsidered in the 2027 legislative session, which begins on Jan. 13. The first date to pre-file bills was July 20, and SB579 was “continued from last session” on July 21, which counts the same as pre-filing.
History offers a mixed outlook on carried-over bills in Virginia. Lawmakers reconsider them fairly often, but most don’t pass. Fewer still advance meaningfully, clear both chambers, and land on the governor’s desk. There’s no official success rate, since results depend on the bill and the committee. Sometimes a continuance simply buys time for negotiation, research, or revisions.
Will Virginia take up online casinos again in 2027?
All signs point to yes. Virginia Senate Bill 118 and House Bill 161 would have both banned Sweeps Coin gameplay at sweeps casinos and legalized real-money online casinos in the 2026 session. Even though both those bills progressed through both chambers of the legislature, they ultimately failed to pass out of a conference committee and stalled out for a failure in March.
That near miss is why another attempt looks likely. The House and Senate each passed their own version with bipartisan support. The problem was reconciling them before time ran out. Lawmakers have proven a regulated online casino market can win votes in both chambers, but supporters still have to settle the details that sank the 2026 bills.
Unresolved issues include consumer protections, market structure, and the state’s broader gaming regulatory framework. A separate bill to create a new Virginia Gaming Commission, which would oversee gaming in the state, was also continued to the 2027 session.
Time may be the biggest obstacle for potential iGaming bills and the continued SB579. The 2027 session opens Jan. 13 and is expected to last about 45 days, leaving little room to hammer out major policy differences.
Other states to monitor in 2027
Sweepstakes casinos already have two states to watch when legislatures return in January 2027, and they’re taking noticeably different routes on a sweeps ban.
Wyoming is swinging wider. Rather than going after the games alone, 27LSO-0098, which a legislative committee voted to sponsor, would expand the state’s definition of professional gambling to reach sweepstakes casinos and the businesses that keep them running: payment processors, geolocation services, and platform providers.
Significantly, it also takes aim at single-currency models, a move that could shut a loophole operators have relied on to sidestep dual-currency bans.
Pennsylvania’s House Bill 2801 is more precise. Pre-filed in late September and sent to the House Gaming Oversight Committee, it zeroes in on dual-currency gameplay, backing the ban with penalties as high as $500,000. Social casino games are left alone, provided they don’t hand out cash prizes or cash equivalents.