Lawmakers in the Indiana Senate advanced House Bill 1052 following a 37-8 vote after its third reading. The bill, which contains measures on sweepstakes casinos and horse racing, among other proposals, now heads back to the House.
Key Takeaways
- Indiana lawmakers advanced a bill that would ban sweepstakes casinos.
- The bill passed with a 37-8 vote.
- The Senate filed a motion to dissent from the amended bill, and it now heads back to the House.
House Bill 1052, introduced by Representative Ethan Manning in December, contains a proposal to ban sweepstakes casinos, as well as civil and criminal penalties for those found to be interacting or operating what the state deems an illegal gambling platform.
The bill has made some headway among lawmakers since its introduction to the state legislature. The first amendments came in January, with the House Committee on Public Policy advancing changes that describe sweepstakes casinos not only as a “dual-currency platform” but also as a “dual-currency or multi-currency system of payment.”
Other changes included specifics on how players exchange currency for “cash prizes” and clarification that sweepstakes games are internet-based.
House lawmakers then approved the bill with an 86-12 vote, advancing it to the Senate in early February. Since then, the Senate has only made a couple of additional changes to the measure, such as including a provision that states, “the term does not include a game, contest, or promotion 7 offered by the state lottery commission or peer-to-peer skill-based 8 poker games.”
Now back in the House, lawmakers have until the end of Indiana’s legislative session on Feb. 27 to advance the bill to the governor’s desk.
If signed into law, the bill would take effect July 1, most likely making Indiana the seventh state to outlaw sweepstakes casinos.
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Tennessee also seeks to crack down on sweeps
Indiana is not the only state seeking to ban sweepstakes casinos in 2026; Tennessee also introduced its own bill in January.
While not moving as quickly as Indiana’s bill, House Bill 1885, introduced by Representative Scott Cepicky, has been assigned to the House Departments & Agencies Subcommittee, while its Senate companion bill, Senate Bill 2136, has been referred to the Senate Commerce and Labour Committee.
The bills would classify sweepstakes as illegal gambling. They define sweeps gaming as a platform that uses virtual currency systems for casino-style games, allowing players to swap virtual coins for cash or real-world prizes.
The crackdown on sweepstakes comes after the state’s attorney general issued up to 40 cease-and-desist letters targeting illegal operators in December. The list included operators like Stake, McLuck, and Chumba Casino.
“The only thing you can be sure about with an online sweepstakes casino is that it's going to take your money,” said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in a statement. “They work hard to make these sweepstakes casinos look legitimate, but at the end of the day they are not. They avoid any oversight that could ensure honesty or fairness. Our Office was glad to chase these shady operations out of Tennessee and will keep working to protect Tennesseans from illegal gambling.”
