Tennessee Becomes Latest State to Ban Sweepstakes Casinos

Tennessee's anti-sweepstakes casino legislation, Senate Bill 2136, has been signed into law by Governor Bill Lee. 

This signing occurred on Friday, May 22, and the language in the bill indicates it takes immediate effect. With that, the sweepstakes casinos that have remained in the state should leave soon. 

Sweepstakes Casinos Have Been Leaving the State Since Last Year

Last year, many sweepstakes casinos began leaving the state following actions taken by the Sports Wagering Council. These included Thrillzz, ReBet, KicKr, Sportzino, Legendz, and more. 

In all, the state's Attorney General issued more than 40 cease-and-desist notices to sweepstakes casino brands, including big-name platforms such as Chumba Casino. 

Tennessee Sweepstakes Casino Ban Path

SB 2136 was originally introduced in January, alongside another bill, HB 1885. The sweepstakes casino industry was already mentioned as illegal, but also included that “there exists the need to clarify for the public that such online sweepstakes casinos are expressly illegal given their prevalence in this State”.

Also, according to Sweepsy, the bill also added more to the Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47, Chapter 18, which defined an online sweepstakes game as one that uses virtual currency and where players can “exchange the currency for a prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent, or the chance to win a prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent”.

As for punishment, there's no mention of fines, but operating a sweepstakes casino would fall under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, which would expose operators to civil penalties, potential restitution, and injunctions. Thus, there's no blanket fine amount. 

After SB 2136 passed the Senate in March, the companion bill, HB 1885, drew attention before the legislature turned back to SB 2136, and it passed the House. 

There were four amendments, including one where the proposal was morphed into a study. Also, the bill took on language that was broader and removed specific language related to "sweepstakes." While that passed in the House, the Senate didn't agree to that. 

This resulted in a conference committee to figure it out, and ultimately, the bill went back to the original text. After all that, the bill passed on the final day of the legislature's session. 

Other Sweepstakes Casino Bans

As a result, Tennessee has not only effectively banned sweepstakes casinos but has also become the fifth state this year to do so, alongside Maine, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Other states that have banned sweepstakes casinos include New Jersey, California, Nevada, Connecticut, Montana, and New York.