New York Sweepstakes Laws: Registration Under §369-e and the §912 Ban
In New York, a prize promotion must be registered under GBL §369-e when the total advertised value of its prizes exceeds $5,000. File with the Secretary of State at least 30 days before it begins, pay $100, and secure the entire prize value with a trust account or surety bond. §912 separately governs sweepstakes casinos.
| Registration | GBL §369-e — prize promotions whose total announced prize value exceeds $5,000 |
|---|---|
| Filing | Secretary of State, at least 30 days before the start; $100 non-refundable fee |
| Security | Trust account or surety bond equal to the total prize value, filed with the statement |
| Statute | S5935A, enacted as Chapter 605 — adds §912 to the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law |
| Signed | 5 December 2025, Gov. Kathy Hochul |
| Effective | Immediately — no wind-down period |
| Penalties | $10,000 to $100,000 per violation; loss of a gaming licence or of eligibility for one |
| Reaches | Operators, financial institutions, payment processors, geolocation providers, gaming content suppliers, platform providers, media affiliates |
| Enforcement | State Gaming Commission; State Police; Attorney General |
| Prior action | 26 cease-and-desist letters from AG Letitia James, 6 June 2025 |
| Status | ban |
| What defines it | Reaches processors and affiliates; excludes no-prize games |
| Last verified | 2026-07-30 |
New York sweepstakes registration: when you must file
Two different New York statutes are routinely confused, and they do not govern the same thing. S5935A, below, governs sweepstakes casinos. General Business Law §369-e governs prize promotions of the ordinary commercial kind — the giveaway attached to a product, the entry form, the draw. A business running a promotion in New York is almost always asking about §369-e, not about §912.
The filing requirement engages when the total announced value of the prizes offered is in excess of five thousand dollars. Below that figure, no filing is required. The statement is filed with the Secretary of State at least thirty days before the promotion begins, with a non-refundable fee of $100 — in practice with the Department of State, Division of Corporations, State Records Bureau, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12231.
The security is the part operators underestimate. A trust account, or a bond with sufficient sureties, must equal the total value of all prizes offered, in favour of the people of the State of New York, and be filed at the same time as the statement. It is not a percentage of the prize pool and it is not a deposit against claims — it must stay at the full announced value for as long as the promotion runs.
The obligation does not end when the promotion does. Within ninety days of completion, a certification listing the name and address of every winner of a prize worth more than $25 is a second filing. Failure to file the statement is a class B misdemeanor, and so is failing to keep the required records or post the required notices.
The enforcement came first
The decisive event in New York was not the signature. Attorney General Letitia James named 26 operators in June 2025, and all 26 agreed to stop selling Sweeps Coins to New York players. VGW completed its exit on 1 August 2025 — four months before the bill reached the Governor’s desk. The statute ratified a market that enforcement had already cleared.
The supply chain is the target
Section 912 does not stop at operators. Payment processors, geolocation providers, content suppliers, platform providers and media affiliates are all named. An affiliate marketer with no gaming licence and no New York office is inside the perimeter. California copied this structure a month earlier; expect every subsequent ban to copy it too.
The definition that matters, and what it requires
§912(1)(a) defines an online sweepstakes game as “any game, contest, or promotion that is available on the internet and/or accessible on a mobile phone, computer terminal, or similar access device, that utilizes a dual-currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any cash prize, cash award or cash equivalents, or any chance to win any cash prize, cash award or cash equivalents, and simulates casino-style gaming”. The three limbs are joined, not offered as alternatives, so a game that fails any one of them falls outside the definition on the face of the text.
The middle limb is the one that carries the weight. It is not enough to run two currencies; the currency has to be exchangeable by the player for a cash prize, a cash award, a cash equivalent, or a chance at one. A single balance of granted coins that cannot be bought, redeemed or transferred has nothing to exchange, so on the face of §912 the definition is not met. That is a reading of the statutory text, not legal advice.
The statute contains no separate exclusion clause. An earlier draft of S5935 carried a sentence excluding games that award no cash prizes or cash equivalents; it is not in the enacted law, and this page said otherwise until 8 September 2026. See the errata.
Can you still play a sweepstakes casino in New York?
Not one that pays out. Every operator that sold Sweeps Coins to New York players has withdrawn — all 26 named by the Attorney General in June 2025 agreed to stop, and §912 has been in force since 5 December 2025 with no wind-down period. A site still reachable from a New York address is not evidence that it is lawful.
What you can still play is the other kind: a game with a single currency that awards no cash prize and no cash equivalent. Nothing in it can be exchanged for money, so the middle limb of §912’s definition is not engaged. That is a reading of the text, not a ruling; no court has applied §912 to a play-only platform.
The practical test a New York player can apply without reading the statute: if coins can be turned into money, the operator is inside §912. If they cannot be turned into anything at all, it never engaged.
Sources
- Verified New York State Senate, Senate Bill S5935A (2025–2026) — bill status page records “Dec 05, 2025 signed chap.605” and “Dec 01, 2025 delivered to governor”. Re-read from the primary source 4 September 2026.
- Verified New York State Senate, Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law §912, codified text, most recent revision 12 December 2025 — read verbatim 8 September 2026. Four subdivisions: definitions, prohibition, penalties, enforcement. No exclusion clause. Cross-checked the same day against the Assembly’s text of S05935, which has three sections and no such clause.
- Verified Office of the NY Attorney General, “Attorney General James Stops Illegal Online Sweepstakes Casinos” (6 June 2025) — 26 operators named.
- Verified New York General Business Law §369-e (Article 24-A), “Use of games of chance in selling commodities” — statutory text: $5,000 threshold, thirty days’ notice, $100 filing fee, trust account or surety bond equal to total prize value, ninety-day winners’ certification, class B misdemeanor for failure to file.
- Verified New York Department of State, “Games of Chance Registration” — filing route, the $100 non-refundable fee, the requirement to attach a Certificate of Deposit or a Games of Chance Surety Bond for the total prize amount, and the ninety-day Certification of Winners for prizes over $25.
- Probable iGaming Expert / ESI reporting on the signature, the penalty range and supply-chain liability (December 2025). Trade reporting, not primary text; the penalty range has not been re-read against the enrolled chapter.
- Unverified Surety bond premiums are commonly quoted at roughly 2% of the bonded amount. This is market pricing reported by bond brokers, not a statutory figure, and it varies by applicant credit.
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