New Jersey Confirms Sweeps Casino Ban

New Jersey State Governor Phil Murphy has ratified the state ban on sweepstakes casinos, and the new laws have taken immediate effect.

The Garden State joins Montana, Connecticut and Nevada in passing anti-sweeps casino legislation in 2025. While the other states will begin enforcement in October, New Jersey is wasting no time and the new laws are available to the Attorney General now. So, we can expect a rush for the door as sweepstakes casinos restrict access to the state to avoid the draconian punishments that the regulators can now dish out.

Fines include $100,000 for the first offense and $250,000 for each subsequent offense, with each day that the casino continues to operate illegally classed as a separate offense. It’s not just aimed at a company level, either, as the legislation revealed any officer, employee or agent of the company can be held liable.

Casinos Starting to Retreat

While the likes of McLuck, Stake.us and High 5 pulled out of New Jersey in advance of the ruling, and the likes of Chumba Casino opted to eliminate Sweeps Coins from their games for New Jersey residents. Pure social casinos are allowed under the new legislation, but for now most of the leading lights in the sweeps casino scene seem to be playing it safe by blocking New Jersey entirely.

The bill, A5447, passed the state legislature in June. It has taken two months for the state governor to sign off on the legislation, but now the last hurdle has been swept away and the best sweepstakes casinos will have to exit the state, or focus on Gold Coins free play only.

New Jersey was the first state to look at legitimizing Sweepstakes Casinos and bringing them into the legal framework when assemblyman Clinton Calabrese proposed Senate Bill A5196 in January. That bill was swiftly withdrawn and replaced with a blanket ban that has now come into effect, and New Jersey has joined an ever-increasing number of states that have taken a stand against the sweepstakes model.

New York State has active legislation waiting for the State Governor’s signature, and has already used existing laws to send a swathe of Cease-and-Desist orders and a strong message to operators, while Louisiana and Nevada both have bills in progress that could come into force this year.