Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Iowa have each advanced legislation targeting sweepstakes casinos through their state legislatures within the space of a few weeks, delivering the most concentrated burst of anti-sweepstakes legislative action since the crackdown began in earnest in 2025 and raising fresh questions about how long the industry’s dual-currency model can survive in the United States.
Oklahoma Senate Bill 1589 cleared the state House on May 4 by a 65-21 vote, having already passed the Senate unanimously in March.
The bill, authored by Senator Todd Gollihare, expands Oklahoma’s gambling statute to include online casino-style games and targets the dual-currency systems that underpin the sweepstakes model. Under state rules, Governor Kevin Stitt had five days to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without action. If enacted, the prohibition would take effect on November 1, 2026.
The legislation protects the exclusivity arrangements that Oklahoma’s large tribal gaming infrastructure holds under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, making the bill as much about commercial protection for existing operators as it is about consumer safety. The 65-21 margin in the House, combined with the Senate’s unanimous vote, left very little political cover for a gubernatorial veto.
Tennessee’s Senate Bill 2136 has similarly cleared both chambers and landed on Governor Bill Lee’s desk after a 32-0 Senate vote. Critically, Tennessee enforcement had already begun before the bill reached the governor, with Attorney General cease-and-desist letters compelling the exit of Chumba Casino, McLuck, Stake.us, and Crown Coins from the Tennessee market before a single line of the legislation was signed into law. That sequence demonstrates that the threat to sweepstakes operators does not require a completed legislative process to trigger significant market consequences.
Louisiana’s approach has been the most aggressive of the four states. House Bill 53, which cleared the House 86-11 and the Senate 27-9, classifies sweepstakes gaming as a racketeering predicate offence, exposing operators to penalties of up to 50 years in prison and fines reaching $1 million. The bill awaited Governor Jeff Landry’s signature with a provision that it would automatically become law without his action within ten days. Louisiana had already issued 40 cease-and-desist orders to sweepstakes operators following Landry’s earlier veto of a direct ban bill.
Iowa’s Senate File 2289, which passed both chambers unanimously, takes a different but equally significant approach, granting the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission expanded enforcement powers that include the ability to issue cease-and-desist orders against sweepstakes platforms, bringing them formally within the scope of existing state gambling oversight.
Eight jurisdictions had already enacted sweepstakes bans before this latest wave, including California, New York, New Jersey, Montana, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, and Washington state. The cumulative effect is a rapidly shrinking operating map for an industry that two years ago was accessible in nearly every US state.
