This is something a little unexpected – after comprehensively banning sweepstakes casinos last year with the AB 5447 bill, New Jersey’s legislature has now filed a fresh bill proposing regulation of the format.
SB 1500, sponsored by Senator Joseph Cryan, would allow brands like WOW Vegas, High 5 Casino, and Chumba to flourish in the Garden State again.
While Cryan hasn’t outlined his motivations publicly, it’s likely the intent is to allow NJ to increase state revenue by taxing sweepstakes operators alongside other licensed iGaming providers.
From Ban to Regulation: What SB 1500 Changes
Yes, instead of undoing the A 5447 ban outright, this new bill proposes a reclassification: treating sweepstakes casinos as a form of internet gaming subject to New Jersey’s iGaming regime. That shift would move sweeps casino sites from ‘unauthorized’ to ‘licensed’, but only if they meet the same regulatory requirements as real-money online casinos.
New Jersey legalized online casino gaming in 2013, and the state currently offers real-money slots, table games, and live dealer games online. Operators must partner with an Atlantic City land-based casino, and regulation and enforcement are handled by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) and the Casino Control Commission.
It’s worth mentioning, a bill with similar intentions to SB 1500 was proposed this time last year in NJ. AB 5196 was filed by Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese and sought to regulate sweeps. That was before Calabrese pulled a 180 and instead sponsored AB 5447, the bill that would eventually go on to ban the vertical.
And since AB 5196, no other state has attempted to regulate sweepstakes casinos formally – NJ stands alone in raising this subject, one year on.
SB 1500’s wording is fairly simple – it essentially inserts sweepstakes casinos and their virtual tokens into current NJ gaming law. That would bring sweepstakes sites under the same licensing and taxation rules as real-money online casinos in New Jersey. They would also be treated identically regarding player protections (21+) and responsible gaming standards.
The Odds of Passage for SB 1500
So where does SB 1500 stand? Well, it’s formally introduced and sits with the Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, but it faces a significant uphill climb. Industry analysts have already assigned a low chance of success.
While sweeps operators along with the SGLA industry trade group are no doubt in support of SB 1500, we can’t ignore the fact that prevailing winds in the US are very much on the side of outlawing the format.
We’ll watch this one closely, but it would take an unlikely political shift for NJ lawmakers to buck the current trend and support SB 1500 to completion.
Author: Jon Ridehalgh
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