Legislative proposals to ban sweepstakes gaming went in different directions in two states on Wednesday.
In Virginia, the idea was kicked down the road to 2027 in its very first committee session after the relevant bill’s sponsor said that “more homework” was needed from the state gambling regulator.
Sen. Bryce Reeves introduced SB 579 in mid-January, legislation that would add operating or promoting sweepstakes games to the definition of “illegal gambling” in the state. The bill defines “online sweepstakes game” as any dual-currency online game, contest or promotion that simulates casino-style gaming, lottery gaming or sports betting and that awards prizes based on chance. It would levy civil penalties of between $10,000 and $100,000 for each violation.
However, this week, the bill was substituted in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee to abandon the proposed ban and instead compel the Virginia Lottery Board to establish a working group, including representatives from the online sweepstakes and social games industry, to study the implications of online sweepstakes games and to report back to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2026.
Virginia senators want to know difference between sweeps and casinos
“The way this thing has been allowed to run, it’s kind of flying under the radar in a lot of states,” said Reeves in a hearing on Feb. 11. “These games are confused a lot with some of the iGaming and other things. So, given how much the landscape has changed, we’re requesting that we send it to the lottery now with a letter asking them to look into sweepstakes gaming and maybe present back to tell us where they might be on sweepstakes gaming.”
The committee substitute notes that the work group, to be comprised of various stakeholders, would need to determine and identify any differences between online sweepstakes games and real-money gambling or internet gaming and develop a cast-iron definition for “online sweepstakes games.”
“We’ll carry it over [to 2027], do a letter to the lottery and let them do some more homework,” said Reeves. The motion to punt the bill to 2027 was approved 14-1 in the committee.
But online casino bill would crack down on sweeps
Still, that doesn’t mean the idea of banning sweeps is completely dead in Virginia for 2026.
The day before the vote on SB 579, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee sent SB 118 to the full Senate floor. That bill would legalize online casino gaming in the state, letting in-state casinos to partner with iCasino operators to offer up to three platforms. It also includes language to make online sweepstakes casinos illegal without an iGaming license and to give the gaming regulator the power to issue cease-and-desist orders and seek injunctions against such unlicensed operators.
The bill was approved by an 8-6 re-vote on Tuesday.
Indiana’s sweeps ban keeps moving quickly
In contrast to the Virginia about-face on Wednesday, Indiana senators meeting on the same day gave the green light to a bill to ban sweeps that has already passed the Indiana House.
HB 1052, which passed the House 87-11 last week, was unanimously forwarded on from its first Senate committee, Public Policy, by an 8-0 vote.
That was despite its Senate sponsor, committee Chair Ron Alting, professing a desire to instead regulate and tax sweeps. He said in a Wednesday hearing that he got “a tremendous amount of feedback of ‘no go'” on that regulation idea. Another senator voices support for Alting’s proposed amendment to regulate the sweeps industry instead of banning it.
Before HB 1052 passed the full Senate, some legislators in that chamber also tried to introduce an amendment to pivot the proposed ban towards regulation instead, but the amendments failed.
Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) members testified at that Indiana hearing that they want to work with the government to find a regulatory model to continue offering what they call Social Plus gaming. Representatives of the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) said in the bill’s Senate discussion that the agency believes that online sweepstakes casinos are not currently breaking any state laws and as so does not feel it can issued cease-and-desists letters to operators like VGW. The IGC supported the proposed ban.
HB 1052 was amended later in the Senate process to downgrade the proposed punishment for operators and promoters of sweeps from a criminal violation to a civil one.
