New Jersey’s anti-sweepstakes bill has finally been signed off by Governor Phil Murphy (pictured).
A5447 cleared the legislature back in June, and Murphy’s approval on Friday completes the process, making it officially part of NJ state law.
New Jersey now joins Montana, Connecticut, and Nevada as the fourth state to succeed with an anti-sweeps proposal in 2025, and the last line of A5447’s wording indicates it should take effect immediately. That’s compared to the other three states where bills are scheduled to come into effect in October.
This means NJ is the first state to properly begin enforcement, so it’s likely we’ll see a raft of new exits from sweepstakes operators imminently.
Most big names like McLuck, Stake.us, and High 5 are already out of the Garden State, but some have remained up till now, including Fortune Coins, WOW Vegas, and NoLimitCoins.
VGW, operator of Chumba, decided to remain in NJ but only offer free play with Gold Coins, removing the option for promotional play with Sweeps Coins. Free play at pure social casinos will not be banned by the new law.
What A5447 Means For NJ Sweepstakes Players
The bill defines ‘sweepstakes’ as a system using a “dual currency system of payment that allows a participant to exchange the currency for a prize or prize equivalent.” It then prohibits such models, holding liable not only the operator or sponsor but also “any officer, employee, or agent” involved. Unlike some similar bills, A5447 does not explicitly mention third-party vendors such as payment processors, affiliates, or platform providers.
It also contains a list of exceptions. Such exemptions were likely designed to allow companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s to continue with their popular sweepstakes promotions.
One exemption could prove contentious, however. A sweepstakes is allowed if “there exists a method of entry to participate in the sweepstakes at no cost to the participant.” Sweepstakes casinos could argue they qualify via their bonuses and giveaways, but analysts appear to be treating the new law as a blanket ban for the format at this point.
And it’s not a bill to be taken lightly, as the potential penalties are some of the harshest we’ve seen this year. Offenders will be liable to pay “a civil penalty of not more than $100,000 for the first offense and not more than $250,000 for the second and each subsequent offense.” Each day that the enterprise continues will be classed as a separate offense, creating a strong financial deterrent.
The wording then goes on to amend laws on other gambling-related issues such as maintenance of gambling resorts, as well as swindling, cheating, and related fraud offenses.
Industry Pushback and Failed Regulation Attempts
Jeff Duncan, executive director of the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA), criticized the bill in a statement made after the news of Governor Murphy’s signing on Friday.
“This law is a textbook example of government overreach that strips away entertainment choices from adults who should be free to make decisions about their own entertainment.”
The SGLA, a sweepstakes/social casino trade group, had warned against A5447 during the legislative debates in NJ. World Poker Tour (WPT) President and CEO Adam Pliska even appeared in-person to defend the sweepstakes format he uses on his ClubWPT poker site.
Those arguments ultimately fell on deaf ears, as New Jersey takes aim at the successful sweeps vertical instead of trying to regulate it. There were brief hopes at the start of the year that regulation could be on the table, especially because NJ is one of the seven US states where online gambling is currently legal.
Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese put forward A5196 in January, a proposal aimed at legalizing and regulating sweepstakes; it was the only serious attempt this year to create a regulatory framework for the model. But it was short-lived, after Calabrese quickly abandoned it, replacing it with A5447 in a stark U-turn.
We now await the news of New York’s S5935 bill, which, similarly, awaits a signature from Governor Kathy Hochul after passing the legislature in June.
If you’re a NJ resident signed up to a platform that has not yet officially left the state, we recommend making a redemption request as soon as possible, although it may already be too late.
With enforcement already in effect, more operator withdrawals are expected in the coming days, and users should monitor platform notifications and emails for updates.
Author: Joseph Allen
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