The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is about as big as it gets for the casino and iGaming space.
Held every year in Las Vegas, the event brings together thousands of operators, regulators, suppliers, game developers, tribal gaming representatives, and other industry figures to discuss the future of legal, regulated gambling. These stakeholders are often opposed to dual-currency sweepstakes casinos and the Gold Coins/Sweeps Coins systems that allowed the vertical to flourish in the US.
This year’s event is currently underway at The Venetian Expo, running from September 28 through October 1, but unlike last year, there’s no dedicated session focused on sweepstakes casinos.
That’s notable because sweepstakes were a big talking point at G2E 2025, with some of the industry’s prominent voices predicting that the model was – or at least should be – approaching the end of the road.
A year later, the sweepstakes industry is certainly smaller. More states have banned it, operators have pulled out of certain markets, and some brands have disappeared altogether. But the predictions of an imminent demise haven’t come to pass.
Instead, it seems the more pressing issue for the traditional casino and iGaming lobby is now prediction markets (such as Kalshi and Polymarket), which are increasingly challenging the gambling industry’s existing framework. Fighting that battle takes up valuable attention and legislative time, potentially giving sweepstakes casinos some breathing room for now.
Last Year’s “Last Gasp”
The sweepstakes industry was already facing a serious regulatory push when G2E took place last year.
Montana, Connecticut, and New Jersey had indeed already enacted bans by that point, while California’s sweepstakes legislation had passed unanimously and was awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature.
That California bill was especially significant because the Golden State was the biggest market for sweepstakes at the time. Newsom would sign the bill just days after the conference ended, adding to the sense that the sweeps industry was facing an existential threat.
Howard Glaser, Light & Wonder’s Global Head of Government Affairs and Legislative Counsel, went as far as saying sweepstakes was experiencing its “last gasps” at the event.
Tres York, the American Gaming Association’s Vice President of Government Relations, was dismissive of the sweeps business model too, calling it “a too-clever-by-half attempt to offer online casino gateways to the public.”
Gaming lawyer Daniel Wallach spoke about how some states had sent cease-and-desist letters to sweeps operators, but that none had ever been challenged:
“So the failure to challenge over 100 CD letters is almost tantamount to an admission of liability. They understand the results perfectly well.”
The regulatory predictions weren’t completely wrong, because the sweepstakes map has certainly continued to shrink. In fact, after California kicked out sweeps, New York dealt another hammer blow to the industry at the end of 2025. By that point, the two biggest markets had gone within the space of a few months.
Then, this year, Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Oklahoma all enacted their own bans. That’s a big contraction, and operators have naturally responded by leaving the affected states or withdrawing from the market altogether. Some brands, like Novig and ProphetX, have pivoted to offering prediction markets.
There’s still real legal pressure from some quarters too, with Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier taking action against sweepstakes operators and the platforms advertising them.
But this is different from the prediction that sweepstakes casinos are entering their “last gasp”, because there are still clearly plenty of operators active in the US, plus new brands choosing to launch. On top of that, some brands have started to evolve, adapting their products to the changing regulations.
The Emergence of ‘Single-Currency Casinos’
One of the most interesting developments has been the emergence of single-currency casinos – those which don’t use the traditional Gold Coin/Sweeps Coin structure.
Most of the new bills that banned sweepstakes casinos did so by using wording around dual-currency systems, including the California and New York bills. That’s not to say that all other similar models – including single-currency – would get a pass, but due to the proliferation of these types of sites, it’s clear that some brands see an opportunity and feel comfortable using a tweaked, single-currency system.
These include sites like Card Crush, ZumbaCards, and Albumza which essentially replace Gold Coins with collectible cards, removing the dual-currency idea. In fact, the first two brands mentioned actually operate in 48 states at the time of writing, including California and New York.
As for figures, this sector could already be generating around $250 million – $450 million in annual net revenue. Those are estimates, but they illustrate the size of the opportunity emerging around the edges of the traditional sweepstakes market.
In other words, some of the capacity lost through state bans hasn’t simply disappeared – at least some of it is being chased by new products and new operators.
Closing Thoughts
The lack of discussion around sweepstakes at G2E this year may say less about the death of the sweeps space than it does about where the industry’s attention has moved.
With prediction markets now taking up more of the traditional gaming lobby’s time, sweepstakes brands have another opportunity to operate outside the spotlight – albeit with a smaller market and a lot more scrutiny than they had a few years ago.
Maybe the traditional lobby is happy with how much the sweeps market has shrunk, or maybe there simply wasn’t room on the schedule to discuss the issue for another year.
Either way, for all the talk of a “last gasp” at G2E 2025, sweepstakes casinos are still here. The more interesting question now is perhaps what the next stage of the model looks like, and whether it will be fought in the same way.
Author: Alex Windsor
Updated:
