What Happened With Sweepstakes Casino Bans This May 2026

Key takeaways

• Five states have now enacted statutory sweepstakes bans in 2026: Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
• Tennessee SB 2136 became law on May 12, with immediate effect, after Gov. Lee’s 10-day signing window expired without a veto.
• Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB 53 on May 11 and HB 883 on May 15, with both bills taking effect on August 1.
• Louisiana now treats sweepstakes operation as a racketeering predicate, carrying up to 50 years in prison.
• Oklahoma SB 1589 became law on May 14, after the legislature overrode Gov. Stitt’s veto on the final day of its session.
• Minnesota SF 4474 died when the 2026 session adjourned on May 18 without a House vote.

The May 2026 wave

The 2026 sweepstakes ban wave that started with Indiana and Maine in March and April reached its peak in May. In a stretch of four days between May 11 and May 15, three more states acted. Louisiana reversed its 2025 position on the same day Tennessee’s bill became law by default. Two days later, Oklahoma’s legislature overrode its governor on the final day of the session.

By the time Minnesota’s legislative session adjourned on May 18 without a House vote on its own sweepstakes bill, the 2026 picture had settled. Five states have enacted statutory bans this year, and Louisiana has gone furthest by also folding sweepstakes operations into its racketeering framework.

Tennessee: law by default, immediate effect

Tennessee’s Senate Bill 2136 became law on May 12, 2026, with immediate effect. The conference committee report passed the state House 69-17-1 on April 24, the final day of the 2026 legislative session, after the Senate ratified the same report 25-5. The Speaker of the Tennessee House signed the enrolled bill on May 7. Under Tennessee law, Gov. Bill Lee then had 10 days, excluding Sundays, to act. The deadline expired on May 12 without a veto, and SB 2136 became law without the governor’s signature.

The new statute amends the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1977 to define and prohibit a category called “online sweepstakes games.” That category covers any internet-accessible game that uses a virtual-currency, dual-currency, or multi-currency system where currency can be exchanged for cash or prizes, and where the game simulates casino-style gambling. The Tennessee Attorney General can now seek civil penalties of $5,000 to $15,000 per violation, along with civil injunctions. The statute also creates a private right of action, meaning Tennessee consumers can sue operators directly.

Most major platforms had already exited Tennessee before SB 2136 took effect. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office sent cease-and-desist letters to nearly 40 operators in December 2025.

Platforms including Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, McLuck, Stake.US, Global Poker, and WOW Vegas wound down their Tennessee operations in the months that followed. Tennessee is the third state in 2026 to enact a statutory ban, after Indiana’s HB 1052 in March and Maine’s LD 2007 in early April.

Louisiana: two bills, two signatures, one reversal

Louisiana made the most significant move of any US state in May. Gov. Jeff Landry, who vetoed a similar sweepstakes ban in 2025, signed two separate bills into law within four days of each other.

House Bill 53, introduced by Rep. Bryan Fontenot, was signed by Landry on May 11, 2026, and became Act 48. It adds “gambling by computer” and several related offenses to the predicate-offense list of the Louisiana Racketeering Act. Convictions carry fines of up to $1 million and prison terms of up to 50 years at hard labor. The statute also imposes a mandatory five-year minimum sentence, without parole or probation, if the value of the alleged racketeering activity exceeds $10,000. The Louisiana House passed HB 53 on March 30 by a vote of 87-11, and the Senate passed it on April 27 by 29-7, without amendments. HB 53 takes effect on August 1, 2026.

House Bill 883, introduced by Rep. Laurie Schlegel, was signed by Landry on May 15, 2026, and became Act 182. The bill never uses the word “sweepstakes.” It redefines illegal “gambling by computer” to cover any online game using a “dual-currency system of payment,” where one currency can be exchanged for prizes, cash, or the chance to win them. Penalties under HB 883 reach up to $40,000 in fines and five years in prison, with each accepted wager counting as a separate violation. The Attorney General is authorized to seek temporary or permanent injunctions against operators. The House passed HB 883 unanimously, 99-0, on April 14, and the Senate passed it 35-0 on May 12, without amendments. HB 883 takes effect on August 1, 2026.

The two bills are designed to work together. HB 883 supplies the statutory definition that places dual-currency sweepstakes platforms inside “gambling by computer.” HB 53 then makes “gambling by computer” a racketeering predicate. The combined effect, beginning August 1, exposes sweepstakes operators in Louisiana to felony racketeering liability, up to and including 50-year prison sentences.

Landry’s decision to sign both bills reverses the position he took in 2025. After vetoing Senate Bill 181 in June 2025 and calling it “a solution in search of a problem that is already being solved by our current system,” the governor’s office pursued enforcement instead of legislation.

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board and Attorney General Liz Murrill sent cease-and-desist letters to more than 40 sweepstakes operators, and Murrill issued a formal opinion concluding the dual-currency model was illegal under existing Louisiana law. Most major brands either exited Louisiana or wound down their Sweeps Coins offerings in the months that followed. The Louisiana Department of Revenue separately sued VGW and MW Services Limited, doing business as WOW Vegas, for $44.4 million in unpaid sales taxes.

By signing HB 53 and HB 883, Landry has now placed Louisiana’s anti-sweepstakes position in statute, rather than in regulatory interpretation.

Oklahoma: vetoed in seven days, overridden in seven more

Oklahoma’s Senate Bill 1589 became law on May 14, 2026, after both chambers of the Legislature voted to override Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto on the final day of the 2026 session.

The bill cleared the Oklahoma Senate 48-0 on March 2 and the House 65-21 on May 4. Stitt vetoed it on May 7. In his veto message, the governor wrote that SB 1589 was “so broad that it criminalizes everyday apps people use for fun,” and that it “unnecessarily creates a new felony and extends criminal liability to businesses and service providers.” He concluded that “Oklahoma can protect consumers without adopting criminal penalties that reach beyond the problem they are intended to solve.”

The override came one week later. On Thursday, May 14, the Oklahoma Senate voted 34-10 to override, comfortably above the 32-vote two-thirds threshold. The Oklahoma House followed with a 68-19 override vote, also above the chamber’s 67-vote two-thirds threshold. Both votes happened on the same day the Legislature adjourned sine die, two weeks earlier than the constitutional deadline. The bill is now law and takes effect November 1, 2026.

SB 1589 makes operating a sweepstakes casino in Oklahoma a Class C felony, carrying fines of $500 to $2,000 and up to 30 days in jail per violation. The bill extends liability beyond platform operators to suppliers, geolocation providers, gaming suppliers, platform providers, promoters, and media affiliates. It carves out gaming conducted on tribal lands under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and operations authorized under the Oklahoma Charity Games Act. Oklahoma is now the fourth state in 2026 to enact a statutory sweepstakes ban, joining Indiana, Maine, and Tennessee. With Louisiana making it five, the 2026 wave has produced more bans than any prior year.

Minnesota: the one that didn’t make it

Minnesota’s Senate File 4474 cleared the Minnesota Senate 62-3 on April 30, 2026, and was assigned to the House Public Safety, Finance and Policy Committee on May 5. The committee never scheduled a hearing. The Minnesota legislature adjourned its 2026 session on May 18 without taking House action on the bill. SF 4474 is dead for the year.

Sweepstakes platforms remain technically available in Minnesota for now, although Attorney General Keith Ellison has issued cease-and-desist letters to several operators since late 2025. Industry observers expect the bill or a successor to return in the 2027 session.

The 2026 picture so far, finalized

With Minnesota’s session over and the Oklahoma override complete, the 2026 legislative cycle for sweepstakes regulation is effectively settled.

Statutory bans enacted in 2026

• Indiana HB 1052. Signed by Gov. Mike Braun on March 12, 2026. Effective July 1, 2026.
• Maine LD 2007. Signed by Gov. Janet Mills on April 6, 2026. Effective approximately mid-July, 90 days after session adjournment.
• Tennessee SB 2136. Became law on May 12, 2026, by operation of the 10-day window. Effective immediately.
• Louisiana HB 53. Signed by Gov. Jeff Landry on May 11, 2026. Effective August 1, 2026.
• Louisiana HB 883. Signed by Gov. Jeff Landry on May 15, 2026. Effective August 1, 2026.
• Oklahoma SB 1589. Vetoed by Gov. Stitt on May 7, then enacted by legislative override on May 14, 2026. Effective November 1, 2026.

Bills that failed in 2026

• Massachusetts HB 4431. Combined iGaming legalization and sweepstakes ban. Sent for further study by the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies on March 18, 2026.
• Maryland HB 295 and HB 1226. Both passed the House but died in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee before the session ended on April 13.
• Mississippi SB 2104. Passed the Senate unanimously in February but died in the House Gaming Committee at the March 3 deadline.
• Virginia HB 161 and SB 118. Companion iGaming bills with sweepstakes ban language. Each chamber passed its own version, but a conference committee failed to reconcile differences before the March 14 session ended.
• Minnesota SF 4474. Cleared the Senate but received no House hearing before the May 18 adjournment.

Still pending in 2026

• Washington, D.C. Council Bill 26-0656. Combined real-money iGaming legalization and sweepstakes ban. Public hearing held by the Committee on Human Services on May 4. No committee vote scheduled.

What the 2026 wave leaves behind

The 2026 wave has not produced uniform laws. Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, and Oklahoma each wrote sweepstakes-specific definitions into their statutes. Louisiana took a different path, routing the conduct through “gambling by computer” and the state racketeering statute, without using the word “sweepstakes” anywhere in HB 883. That divergence creates real complications for operators facing enforcement actions across multiple states because the legal theory under which each state will prosecute is no longer the same.

For the major platforms in the category, the practical impact is already in place. Most major operators had pulled out of all five 2026-ban states before the laws cleared their respective legislatures. The new statutes close the legal pathway back into those markets and, in Louisiana, add a layer of criminal exposure that had not existed under regulatory enforcement alone.

The next legislative cycle begins in January 2027.

Sweepcasinos does not recommend playing sweepstakes casinos in any state with a statutory ban now in effect.

Sources

Bills enacted in 2026

• Louisiana HB 53 / Act 48. Louisiana State Legislature bill page. House 87-11 on March 30. Senate 29-7 on April 27. Signed by Gov. Landry on May 11, 2026. Effective August 1, 2026. Penalties up to 50 years and $1 million.
• Louisiana HB 883 / Act 182. Louisiana State Legislature bill page. House 99-0 on April 14. Senate 35-0 on May 12. Signed by Gov. Landry on May 15, 2026. Effective August 1, 2026. Penalties up to $40,000 and 5 years per violation.
• Tennessee SB 2136 / HB 1885. The conference committee report passed House 69-17-1 and Senate 25-5 on April 23 and 24. House Speaker signed on May 7. Became law on May 12, 2026, by operation of the 10-day window. Effective immediately. AG civil penalties of $5,000 to $15,000 per violation.
• Oklahoma SB 1589. Oklahoma Legislature bill page. Senate 48-0 on March 2. House 65-21 on May 4. Vetoed May 7. Veto overridden May 14 with Senate 34-10 and House 68-19. Effective November 1, 2026. Class C felony with $500 to $2,000 fine and up to 30 days jail per violation.
• Indiana HB 1052. Indiana General Assembly bill page. Signed by Gov. Mike Braun on March 12, 2026. Effective July 1, 2026. Civil penalties up to $100,000 per violation.
• Maine LD 2007. Maine Legislature bill page. House 87-55. Signed by Gov. Janet Mills on April 6, 2026. Takes effect approximately mid-July. Civil penalties of $10,000 to $100,000.

Bills active or failed in 2026

• Minnesota SF 4474. Minnesota Revisor’s Office bill page. Passed Senate 62-3 on April 30. No House action. Session adjourned May 18, 2026. Dead for 2026.
• Maryland HB 295. Maryland General Assembly bill page. Passed House 105-24 on March 20, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Session ended April 13, 2026.
• Maryland HB 1226. Maryland General Assembly bill page. Passed House 134-2 on March 23, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
• Massachusetts HB 4431. Massachusetts General Court bill page. Filed by Rep. David Muradian in August 2025. Sent for further study by the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies on March 18, 2026.
• Mississippi SB 2104. Mississippi Legislature bill tracker. Passed Senate unanimously on February 4, 2026. Died in House Gaming Committee at the March 3, 2026 committee deadline.
• Virginia HB 161. Virginia LIS bill page. Passed House 67-30 on reconsideration. Failed conference committee before the March 14 session end.
• Virginia SB 118. Virginia LIS bill page. Passed Senate 19-17 on reconsideration. Failed conference committee before the March 14 session end.
• Washington, D.C. Council Bill B26-0656. D.C. Council bill page. Introduced by Councilmember Wendell Felder on April 9, 2026. Public hearing held by the Committee on Human Services on May 4. Still in process.

Earlier statutory bans for reference

• California AB 831. California Legislative Information bill page. Senate 36-0. Assembly 63-0. Signed by Gov. Newsom on October 11, 2025. Effective January 1, 2026.
• New York S5935A. New York State Senate bill page. Senate 57-2. Assembly 141-0. Signed by Gov. Hochul on December 5, 2025. Effective immediately.
• New Jersey A5447. New Jersey Legislature bill page. Signed by Gov. Murphy on August 15, 2025. Effective immediately.