Minnesota is the latest state to weigh new anti-sweepstakes legislation, with the filing of Senate Bill 4474 and its companion, House Bill 4410.
Sponsored by Senator Jordan Rasmusson, SB 4474 is a short and sweet, 2-page document. Filed yesterday, it defines online sweepstakes games as “dual-currency” games in which players “may become eligible for a prize, award, cash, cash equivalent or chance to win a prize.”
The bill would make it illegal for operators of these games to run them, and would extend liability to the broader supply chain too, including payment processors, gaming suppliers, and media affiliates.
Suggested Penalties for Minnesota Sweepstakes Casinos
In terms of punishments, the bill refers to current Minnesota law, namely § 325F.755. This is part of the state’s consumer protection law and regulates how businesses can offer or advertise prizes, contests, and sweepstakes. Violations here result in a person being “fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both.”
This means SB 4474 would effectively criminalize online sweepstakes gaming without technically referring to gambling law. Perhaps this could make it easier to enforce and potentially catch operators who might otherwise argue they’re not ‘gambling’ – this is the standard argument for the legality of the format.
Minnesota Gaming Regulator Currently Lacks Power to Force Operators Out
Speaking of enforcement, Minnesota has traditionally been weak in this area. Really, the only news relating to sweepstakes that came out of the North Star State recently was when the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGE) made contact with sweepstakes and offshore operators and requested a cessation of operations last year.
Minnesota’s regulator doesn’t currently have the power to issue formal cease and desist letters, so the vast majority of sweepstakes casinos still operate in the state, including those operators we know were contacted by the AGE (Fortune Coins, Golden Hearts Games, McLuck, ReBet, Stake.us, VGW, Zula).
SB 4474 would render this problem moot, at least in the case of sweepstakes casinos. Passage would move Minnesota into a small-but-growing category of states where sweepstakes casinos are definitively illegal, with concrete legislation and attached penalties.
Elsewhere, we saw Indiana’s governor sign its own anti-sweeps bill into law at the close of last week, but we’ve also recently seen similar bills fail in Mississippi, Virginia, and Florida.
In related Minnesota news, yesterday also saw the filing of a bill designed to outlaw prediction markets, another gray-area gaming format attracting attention in 2026. SB 4511 outlines various types of events that would not be allowed to form the basis of tradable financial products, and it would limit the business model of several nascent prediction market sites like Kalshi and Polymarket.
Author: Bogdan Lunkan
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