US sweepstakes law tracker

Twenty-eight states, tracked against primary bill text and enforcement announcements. Updated in the same week any status changes. Last updated 24 September 2026.

States with no ban in force that have their own page: Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Mississippi.

The filing register, which is not the ban map

Separate from every ban above: three states require a prize-promotion registration regardless of any sweepstakes-casino question. New York (§369-e, over $5,000, 30 days notice), Florida (§849.094, over $5,000, seven days), and Rhode Island (§11-50-1, over $500 — the lowest threshold in the country, and the only one with no deadline). An operator can be outside every ban on this map and still owe one of these filings.

The bills are the smaller half of the map

An operator tracking legislative calendars alone would have logged West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois as open markets through 2026. All four are closed. Attorneys general and gaming boards have removed more market than legislatures have, using consumer-protection statutes and gambling definitions that predate the sweepstakes model by decades — and they do it without a hearing, a vote, or a line in a bill tracker.

The visible half moves slowly and announces itself. The other half arrives as a subpoena.

What every one of these statutes has in common

Each of the eight bans enacted since 2025 turns on redeemable value. Montana attaches liability to monetary-equivalent payouts. New Jersey defines the sweepstakes by the exchange of currency for a prize. New York’s Section 912 defines the banned game by three things that must all be present: it is online, it runs a dual-currency system of payment exchangeable for cash, and it simulates casino-style gaming. Maine’s Chapter 38 uses the same shape but defines its currency element more broadly, and how far it reaches a non-redeemable model is unsettled. Nevada does not regulate social games where no prizes are awarded.

Remove redemption and the element the statutes were drafted to catch is not present. That is not a loophole — it is the distinction the legislatures themselves drew, repeatedly, in public, in the text.

Washington is the exception, and it is the constraint that governs everything else. Under Kater, a virtual chip that cannot be redeemed for anything is still a thing of value if the player bought it. Big Fish paid $155 million for that reading. The sale is the trigger — which is why nothing on this platform is ever sold.

Movement expected

Oklahoma SB 1589 takes effect in November 2026 — enacted over a veto, with supply-chain reach. Maryland’s HB 1226 / HB 295 passed the House and died in the Senate when the session ended in April 2026 — next realistic shot is the January 2027 refile window. Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts and Mississippi failed in 2026 and will refile. New Jersey’s S1500 would license the model rather than ban it, and sits in the committee where its identical 2025 predecessor died.

Last updated: 24 September 2026. Compliance reference, not legal advice.