March Update – Less than a month since our initial post, State Representative Laurie Schlegel has pre-filed House Bill 883 as yet another sweeps-banning bill in Louisiana. At the same time, HB 53 cleared the House vote and now moves to the Senate.
After an eventful year handling sweepstakes casinos in 2025, lawmakers in Louisiana are once again considering a new bill that could affect the sweeps vertical, despite the fact that most operators have already left.
Yes, HB 53 was prefiled by Representative Bryan Fontenot at the end of January, and its aim is to add various gambling crimes to the list of violations that can be prosecuted under Louisiana racketeering laws.
‘Racketeering’ relates to repeated crimes over an extended period of time, usually as part of a larger organized group; once this context has been established, the penalties can be much harsher than if said crime was an isolated incident.
According to the text of HB 53, here are the crimes that Fontenot would like to see eligible for prosecution under racketeering laws:
“R.S. 14:90 (Gambling)
R.S. 14:90.2 (Gambling in public)
R.S. 14:90.3 (Gambling by computer)
R.S. 14:90.6 (Gambling or wagering at cockfights)
R.S. 14:90.7 (Gambling by electronic sweepstakes device)
R.S. 14:90.8 (Unlawful wagering; prohibited player)
R.S. 14:118.1 (Bribery of sports participants)”
Though it’s yet to be fully tested, the fifth crime, “electronic sweepstakes device” is thought to capture online sweepstakes casinos. It’s an existing law, and via HB 53, anything captured by it could become eligible for the harsher racketeering penalties.
For example, gambling crimes in Louisiana are marked as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances, with fines of up to $20,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.
However, if the same crimes were prosecuted under racketeering charges, prison time could rise to multiple decades and fines could reach six figures, depending on the aggregation of offenses.
Last year in Louisiana, anti-sweeps bill SB 181 passed the two chambers of the legislature, but in a shock move, Governor Jeff Landry vetoed it, stating that state law is already prepared to deal with online sweepstakes casinos. He was likely referring to laws like R.S. 14:90.7.
And soon after that veto, the biggest sweepstakes brands were targeted in a wave of cease-and-desist letters, leading to an exodus from the state by pretty much all sweeps operators.
So Louisiana has mostly won the legal war against sweepstakes casinos, but a bill like HB 53 could put things beyond doubt, creating penalties so harsh they would act as complete deterrents.
That being said, HB 53 is still in the early stages of the 2026 legislative session. It was prefiled on January 30, but as session work in Louisiana doesn’t fully ramp up until March, no hearings or votes have yet occurred.
It’s another bill to monitor in what’s already shaping up to be a very busy year for sweepstakes-related legislation.
Author: Joseph Allen
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