Another major online sweepstakes casino has pulled out of legal iGaming states in the U.S.
Stake.us, per its newest terms of service, which were updated last Thursday, has added New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware to its list of Excluded Territories. A customer service representative also told Sweepsy that Connecticut will soon be added to the list, as well.
This comes just days after High 5 Casino similarly pulled out of legal iGaming states. And that move came just days after VGW increased the minimum age limit on its sites from 18 to 21.
This is a business decision
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s happening here.
There is increasing scrutiny on the sweepstakes gaming industry. Whether it’s states considering bills to ban sweeps sites (Maryland, Mississippi, and Connecticut) or the West Virginia attorney general sending operators subpoenas, or even the Arizona gaming regulatory body releasing a PSA about sweeps platforms, sites like Stake.us are reaching an inflection point: Show they’re willing to play ball … or they may be booted from the game entirely.
In the American Gaming Association’s State of the Industry last Wednesday, president Bill Miller did not hold back in his statements clearly directed at sweeps operators. The AGA represents most of the gaming companies who have iGaming sites in states where they’re legal.
“Then there’s the newer categories of unregulated actors that appear to bypass or circumvent state gaming, from currency exchanges to digital asset platforms,” Miller said. “These entrants deploy legal acrobatics to avoid calling themselves betting or gambling, only then to offer products that most would most universally would agree are gambling, yet without the safeguards and regulatory constraints that build consumer trust.”
The Social and Promotional Games Association has defended its sites models, stating they comply with existing laws while offering alternative gaming options.
Officially exiting states with legal iGaming could be seen as an effort to align with regulatory expectations. Sweeps sites want to prove to lawmakers and the gambling industry not only that they take responsible gambling seriously (see: minimum age limit increases), but that they’re also willing to adapt to fit into the ever-changing gambling ecosystem.
This move may indicate that sweepstakes operators are prioritizing long-term regulatory acceptance over immediate market presence.
Stake.us had already left Michigan
Stake.us is now not available in 13 states (including Connecticut, which isn’t yet listed in its Excluded Territories). It already had the following states excluded in its terms of service:
- Washington
- New York
- Nevada
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Vermont
Michigan is the only iGaming state Stake.us had already pulled out of prior to last Thursday.
Here is what the Stake.us terms of service say about access to its site in the excluded markets:
“We are specifically relying on such representations in providing you access to the platform, customer account, and games. If you reside in any of the excluded territories and nonetheless check the box for acceptance of these terms, access or use the platform, create a customer account, and/or play the games despite our efforts to prevent you from doing so … we reserve all rights to take appropriate action against you.”
The terms make no mention of a phase-out approach for access in the five new excluded states. High 5 Casino, for instance, said in an email to its Pennsylvania players that no new sign-ups or purchases could take place starting Feb. 18, and that all PA accounts would close on March 14.