US sweepstakes law tracker
Twelve jurisdictions, tracked against primary bill text and enforcement announcements. Updated in the same week any status changes. Last verified 13 July 2026.
| State | Status | Authority | In force | What defines it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | Ban | SB 555 | 1 Oct 2025 | First explicit statutory ban |
| Connecticut | Ban | SB 1235 / PA 25-112 | 2025 | Operating is a Class D felony |
| New Jersey | Ban | A5447 | 15 Aug 2025 | $100k–$250k; $20 free-play carve-out |
| New York | Ban | S5935A / §912 | 5 Dec 2025 | Reaches processors and affiliates; excludes no-prize games |
| California | Ban | AB 831 | 1 Jan 2026 | Supply-chain criminal liability |
| Indiana | Ban | HB 1052 | 1 Jul 2026 | $100k per violation; regulation defeated twice |
| Tennessee | Ban | SB 2136 | 22 May 2026 | Consumer Protection Act enforcement |
| Maine | Ban | LD 2007 | ~14 Jul 2026 | Sweeps Coins = indirect consideration |
| Nevada | Enforcement | SB 256 / NRS 463 | 2025 | No sweeps-specific ban; NRS 463 already covers it |
| Washington | Enforcement | Kater / RCW 9.46 | 2018 | Virtual chips are a thing of value; Big Fish paid $155M |
| West Virginia | Enforcement | §61-10-5 | 2025–26 | ~50 AG subpoenas; market exited |
| Louisiana | Enforcement | HB 53 / LGCB | 2025–26 | 40+ C&Ds; $44M suit; racketeering exposure |
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 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 states in terms that a sweepstakes game does not include a game which awards no cash prizes or cash equivalents. Maine reaches for indirect consideration, which requires a purchase to exist at all. 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. 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.