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With multiple state legislatures still considering bills to prohibit online sweepstakes casinos, the industry’s trade group is urging lawmakers to collaborate with sweepstakes companies on regulations, instead of criminalizing the digital games.
The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) said it will “remain vigilant” when it comes to monitoring and lobbying against anti-sweepstakes bills, even though state-level bills seeking to ban sweepstakes casino games have so far come up short in Arkansas, Florida, Maryland and Mississippi.
Efforts to ban online sweepstakes in Florida were the latest to stall when Senate Bill 1404 and House Bill 1467 failed to advance last week, killing both proposals for the 2025 legislative session, a defeat the SPGA believes “continues a clear national trend”.
Still, lawmakers are debating potential bans in at least four states, while a bill to prohibit sweepstakes as part of a broader tightening of anti-gambling laws in Montana was sent to the desk of Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on May 5.
Messages left Monday (May 12) with Gianforte’s office asking if the governor would sign or veto Senate Bill 555 were not returned.
The bill, authored by Republican Senator Vince Ricci, revises the state’s gambling laws, including internet gambling. Ricci’s bill does not use the word sweepstakes; however, it proposes to amend the definition of internet gambling to include online casino games offered via “any platform, website, or application that knowingly transmits or receives gambling information, allows consumers to place a bet or wager using any form of currency, and makes payouts of any form of currency”.
Ricci’s bill would make any illegal site that knowingly offers internet gambling within Montana’s borders, including offshore sites, subject to a felony punishable by up to a $50,000 fine or no more than ten years in prison for each violation.
Connecticut Sweeps Ban On Senate Floor
Connecticut lawmakers have moved a bill to ban sweepstakes that are not related to the sale of goods, services, or property to the Senate floor for consideration.
Senate Bill 1235, introduced in February, was passed by the legislature’s General Law Committee and the Judiciary Committee with a favorable report before being “tabled for the calendar” in the Senate. This step also serves as the bill’s second reading.
SB 1235 would allow the state to seize “any simulated gambling device that is used in a sweepstakes or promotional drawing”. Any violation of the rules would be considered an unfair or deceptive trade practice and subject to penalties for illegal gambling.
The legislation was recommended by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). Regulators argue the bill is necessary to protect consumers and maintain integrity in the state’s legal gaming market, which includes licensed iGaming operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Sun.
The bill also would prohibit the operation of any lottery ticket courier service, which is defined as a “for-profit delivery service operated for the purpose of purchasing lottery tickets for games”.
The committee’s proposal further seeks to prevent gaming licensees from advertising on the same platforms as unlicensed gambling entities and strengthen criminal penalties for illegal gambling activity. SB 1235 would give licensees ten days from when the DCP commissioner issues an order to remove the advertisement.
The Connecticut legislature is scheduled to adjourn on June 4.
A Step Forward For New Jersey Sweeps Ban
Meanwhile, a bill that would ban online sweepstakes from operating in New Jersey has been referred to the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee for further consideration after the Assembly’s Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee unanimously approved A5447 on Thursday (May 8).
Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese, a Democrat and vice-chair of the Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee, confirmed he has worked with stakeholders to try and come to a compromise, and that the discussions continue.
“Any conversation about this bill has to start with a reference to the state constitution … which says no gambling of any kind shall be permitted unless approved by a majority of the voters in the state in a general election,” said Stephan Finkel, director of legislative affairs with the New Jersey Office of Attorney General, in testimony provided to the Assembly gaming committee last week.
Finkel told the committee that most of the state’s gaming laws were from the 1970s and were based on a very different landscape, one that was dominated by land-based casinos in Atlantic City.
“As we know, that evolution of technology has taken gambling to a very different place,” Finkel said. “So, part of what this bill does is it updates and modernizes those criminal provisions to take into account internet gaming, sports betting, and the kind of conduct we see that should be illegal that may or may not be reached by the laws that were previously drafted.”
Finkel reiterated that the bill makes clear that online sweepstakes casino games and sports betting are “not permitted under New Jersey law”.
The bill to outlaw online platforms that use virtual currency and offer cash prizes was supported by Hard Rock International, the Casino Association of New Jersey, and the Sports Betting Alliance, which is a lobbying group that includes BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Sportsbook.
VGW Holdings, which operates LuckyLand Slots and Chumba Casino, expressed its opposition to A5447 but did not testify.
Other prohibition bills are moving forward in Louisiana, where Senate Bill 181 was unanimously passed last month and referred to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. New York Democratic Senator Joseph Addabbo’s bill – S5935A – remains on the Senate floor awaiting final passage, while A6745A remains in Assembly committee stage.
Read more: In Focus: U.S. Sweepstakes
