New Jersey lawmakers are currently debating whether or not to outlaw sweepstakes casinos. A new bill, Assembly Bill 5447, would target the “sweepstakes model of wagering”.
There’s currently an effort across America to put a stop to the rise of sweepstakes casinos. These include Florida, California, Washington, Mississippi, and Maryland. Mississippi is the only state to have already banned platforms hosting them. Other states, like Florida and Maryland, currently have bills under consideration, while Califonia has been pushing for their ban for a while.
New Jersey’s bill is sponsored by Clinton Calabrese, who also brought forward a similar bill earlier this year. However, this new bill is far harsher than the previous one, as it aims to ban rather than regulate.
What are Sweepstakes Casinos?
Sweepstakes casinos are online betting platforms that use tokens in exchange for prizes. Rather than spending your own money directly, you buy coins (like in video games), and spend those for “fun”. There are no prizes on offer, and instead, these are often pitched as ways to learn the game you’d like to win at.
At the same time, you might receive a more premium currency, sometimes referred to as “Sweep Coins”. These are sometimes one-to-one with US dollars and thrown in for free with each purchase of gold coins. This is what will earn you a prize if you manage to win by spending them.
Games on sweepstakes casino sites are often different versions of the games you’d find in real-money casinos. Slots, table games, and others are all featured, and you won’t exchange real money with the games directly.
States struggle to curb sweepstakes casinos
US state governments have been adamant about stomping out this style of gambling. Partially, this is due to the setup, as it makes it hard to regulate. Spending can get wildly out of control, as the Sweep Coins are doled out in small amounts, with users buying large quantities of gold coins without the regular protections of a real-money casino.
In 2024, Google and Apple were implicated in a RICO lawsuit surrounding profiting from these apps. One million US users access these apps frequently.
So far, however, bills similar to that of New Jersey and discussions within state governments. There have been a few lawsuits, but any real action often gets stalled, or the case will be settled outside of court instead.
