Tennessee’s Attorney General said that the state’s sustained efforts to shut down online sweepstakes casinos were successful after almost 40 sites were hit with cease-and-desist letters.
Jonathan Skrmetti’s office announced on Dec. 29 that it “successfully halted” the operation of 38 online sweeps casinos that were using a dual-currency system of play to allow players to engage in real-money gambling, which it said constituted an illegal lottery prohibited by the Tennessee Constitution and in violation of state gambling and consumer-protection laws.
“The only thing you can be sure about with an online sweepstakes casino is that it’s going to take your money,” said Skrmetti. “They work hard to make these sweepstakes casinos look legitimate, but at the end of the day they are not. They avoid any oversight that could ensure honesty or fairness.”
Some sweeps sites had already left
The office listed 38 platforms as recipients of C&Ds over an undisclosed period of time, including:
- Chumba Casino
- Fortune Coins
- Global Poker
- Hello Millions
- High 5 Casino
- Legendz
- Luckyland
- McLuck
- Modo
- Sportzino
- Stake
- WOW Vegas
- Yay Casino
- Zula Casino
The AG’s office said that after it turned up the heat, every recipient agreed to comply and either disabled the unlawful components of their platforms or agreed on a date on which to do so. The notice did not divulge the length of time over which it sent the C&Ds, but noted that the enforcement was part of the AG’s ongoing effort to protect Tennessee consumers from “predatory and unregulated gambling operations.”
Several of the operators listed had already shut down or confirmed plans to scale back in Tennessee prior to the Dec. 29 announcement. Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker owner VGW told SBC Americas in late November that it would cease Sweeps Coin gameplay on all three sites in the state. The likes of High 5 Casino and Stake.us also informed their customers in Tennessee that they would stop offering such games.
“Our Office was glad to chase these shady operations out of Tennessee and will keep working to protect Tennesseans from illegal gambling,” added the Dec. 29 AG’s office statement. “Other sweepstakes casinos currently operating in Tennessee or contemplating entering the Tennessee marketplace should consider themselves on notice that illegal gambling will not be tolerated,.”
Sports Wagering Council asked AG to escalate issue
The AG’s office’s various C&D orders are part of a wider push to shut down unauthorized gambling in the Volunteer State.
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWAC) has been sending its own C&Ds to numerous sites deemed to be offering unlicensed sports betting since as far back as 2024. Platforms such as Bovada, BetOnline and Sportzino subsequently pulled sports-related products in the state, with Sportzino doing so in September. In some cases, C&Ds were unsuccessful, leading the SWAC to issue fines that sometimes went unpaid.
Back in July 2025, while it was in the midst of its own efforts, the SWAC told SBC Americas that it would ask Skrmetti’s office for help in turning its fines into “fully enforceable judgments.” When SBC Americas asked for an update on that process in November amid reports of several more sites shutting down Sweeps Coin play, the SWAC noted that enforcement against online casino-style operators is the remit of the AG’s office rather than the sports betting regulator.
National crackdown continues
The Tennessee AG’s office’s statement referenced “a growing national crackdown” against online sweepstakes casinos that it said reflects widespread concern over platforms using sweepstakes language as a loophole to run unregulated gambling.
The sweeps industry faced a year of reckoning in 2025. California, Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey and New York all passed legislation to ban the vertical. California became the latest to officially enact a prohibition when its legislative ban took effect on Thursday. Many other states took other actions, such as sending rafts of C&Ds like Tennessee.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in multiple states filed legislation in the last quarter of 2025 that targets sweeps, with legislation introduced in Florida, Maine and Indiana. The first state legislative discussion of sweeps in 2026 is likely to happen on Jan. 14, when the Maine bill is scheduled for a committee hearing.
