As Florida lawmakers consider two bills that could effectively ban online sweepstakes casinos, the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) has come forward to express its discontent with the growing number of states targeting sweeps operators.
In a statement released Monday, the SPGA noted that it remains “acutely concerned” by proposed bills filed in the Florida Senate and House.
“These bills inaccurately conflate safe and legal social sweepstakes games with ‘Internet gambling’ and ‘Internet sports wagering,'” the group said in a release.
“This legislative overreach would criminalize legitimate business activities that entertain millions of Florida adults who enjoy social gaming experiences.”
SPGA: Banning sweeps casinos deprives Florida of $7B
Rep. Walter Barnaby and Sen. Corey Simon recently pre-filed companion proposals in their respective chambers in the Sunshine State, with both HB953 and S1404 amending the state’s definition of “internet gambling” to include the action of awarding money “or other thing of value … based on chance, regardless of any application of skill.”
The bills would prohibit games that simulate “casino-style gaming, including, but not limited to, slot machines, video poker, and table games” on computers and mobile devices.
As online sweepstakes casinos offer such games and use virtual currency as opposed to real money, the rationale goes that these two bills would not only ban online casinos but also sweeps casinos.
In response, the SPGA said in a statement that these bills would deprive Florida of “tens of millions of dollars in revenue at a time when the state’s budget deficit is projected to grow to $7 billion in the next three years.”
SPGA urges Florida lawmakers to ‘engage with industry representatives’
The SPGA continued, calling the proposed bills “misguided” and saying they could result in “unintended consequences.” According to the group, major companies that use sweepstakes promotions, including Starbucks, would become “criminals” based on these Florida bills. The same goes for the thousands of smaller businesses that rely on sweepstakes and similar marketing techniques to survive, the SPGA said.
“No legislature should dictate to American adults what games they can and can’t play on their phones,” the SPGA said. “Outlawing free-to-play mobile games is a drastic measure that Florida voters should resolutely reject.”
The SPGA closed its statement with the suggestion that Florida legislators meet with representatives of the online sweepstakes industry “to better understand the legal and operational differences” between gambling and sweeps gaming. After all, the group concluded, advancing such legislation “would harm businesses operating legitimately under longstanding promotional sweepstakes laws.”
Online sweepstakes operators continue to push back
Just two weeks ago, the American Gaming Association lauded the expanding legal gambling landscape in the United States after commercial gaming revenue set a record in 2024 with $71.92 billion.
Yet during the AGA’s State of the Industry shortly after that announcement, Bill Miller, president and CEO of the gaming association, said that operators in the online sweepstakes casino industry — which he called “unregulated actors” — “appear to bypass or circumvent state gaming, from currency exchanges to digital asset platforms.”
He continued: “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.”
Miller said that sweeps casinos target “vulnerable communities” and add “nothing of lasting economic value” while undermining the legal gambling industry’s integrity as well as the community’s well-being.
To this, the SPGA responded that the AGA “trotted out many of the same tired canards about social sweepstakes that self-interested critics have peddled for months.” The SPGA emphasized that properly operated sweepstakes sites operate within “well-established legal frameworks” not seen in the offshore market.
The SPGA then urged the AGA to focus on matters of genuine relevance to the legal gambling industry rather than “wasting resources mischaracterizing an innovative category.”