A Pennsylvania lawmaker introduced a bill that would make the country’s largest online casino market the latest state to ban sweepstakes casinos, but it’s short on time.
Republican Rep. Russ Diamond filed House Bill 2801 last month, and lawmakers referred the bill to the House Gaming Oversight Committee. The bill, which would make it unlawful to “operate, conduct or promote online sweepstakes games” in Pennsylvania and fine violators $50,000 to $500,000 per infraction, has four co-sponsors:
- Rep. Jacob Banta (R)
- Rep. Jeanne McNeill (D)
- Rep. Dan Moul (R)
- Rep. Brad Roae (R)
Diamond’s legislation pulls the sweepstakes casinos ban into the debate over the state’s skill-gaming licenses. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that video terminal skill games are illegal, and the ban took effect Wednesday.
Time is tight for PA sweeps bill
The bill would take effect immediately upon enactment, but legislators have not set a hearing date in the Gaming Oversight Committee.
The legislation likely faces an uphill climb against a tight timeline and sponsorship from the minority party. The 2025-26 session ends Nov. 30, with only five scheduled session days left, and bills do not carry over to 2027.
If Pennsylvania lawmakers do not pass the bill, a similar sweepstakes casinos proposal could reemerge next session. This month, a Wyoming committee recommended a sweepstakes ban bill for 2027, while legislators could bring back similar Virginia legislation sent to study earlier this year ck in the new year.
What would the Pennsylvania sweepstakes ban do?
The sweepstakes casinos language would create a new section of the Gaming Act. It defines an online sweepstakes game as one that “utilizes a dual-currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for a prize, award, cash or cash equivalent” and “simulates casino-style gaming.”
It excludes any game “which does not award cash prizes or cash equivalents.”
The bill would also make it unlawful to “support or assist in the administration, operation, conduct or promotion” of sweepstakes casino games. Unlike the laws in California and New York, which name payment processors, geolocation providers and media affiliates, the bill does not list specific vendors, leaving the scope to regulators and the courts.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) and the attorney general could investigate, subpoena, and issue cease-and-desist orders.
The PGCB sent cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes casino operators in the past, but with no enforcement power. The regulator also asked lawmakers for assistance with the issue.
What Pennsylvania is protecting
Pennsylvania is one of seven states with legal online casinos, and posted $3.46bn in online gambling revenue in 2025, the most in the country. In August, iGaming revenue rose 6.25% year-over-year to $245.7m and generated $113.5m in tax revenue, according to the PGCB.
Pennsylvania taxes online slots, the product sweepstakes casinos most closely resemble, at 54%. HB 2801 lowers that figure for licensed operators, setting a single 49.9% tax on online slots, online table games and online poker. The bill also raises the sports wagering tax from 34% to 36%.
Thirteen states now ban sweepstakes casinos by law, including iGaming states New Jersey and Connecticut.
The politics inside the committee
Diamond is the Republican chairman of the Gaming Oversight Committee, but Democrats hold the House majority at 103-100.
The committee’s majority chairman is Democratic Rep. Pat Harkins, who in July said a skill game tax “has to have parity with the existing casinos at 55%,” per the Erie Times-News.
Diamond’s bill directly ties sweepstakes casinos to the skill game licenses issue and runs counter to Harkins’ preferred policy by expanding video terminal licenses and slashing the tax rate from 42% to 20%.
According to the Pennsylvania State Police, “the games are often found at taverns, restaurants, mini-marts, gas stations, grocery stores, laundromats, pizza parlors, and other businesses, are in fact ‘slot machines’ as defined in the Gaming Act.” The state does allow PGCB-licensed video lottery terminals at truck stops.
The sweepstakes casinos bill would bring the machines into the existing video gaming terminal system, extending licenses from truck stops to liquor-licensed restaurants and clubs. It would cap each location at five terminals.
Skill game enforcement starts Wednesday
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in June that the machines are slot machines under the Gaming Act and stayed its decision for 120 days. Lawmakers left Harrisburg on Oct. 7, their last voting day before the deadline, without acting.
An estimated 70,000 devices operated statewide, according to the Altoona Mirror, and businesses spent the weekend pulling them.
Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 14, authorities can seize and criminally prosecute machines outside PGCB-licensed casinos and truck stops. State Police said unplugging a machine is not enough.
