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Virginia lawmakers hit the brakes on an outright sweepstakes-gaming ban this week, even as a separate online-casino push keeps pressure on unlicensed “sweeps” operators.
In the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Feb. 11, 2026, lawmakers adopted a substitute to SB 579 that drops the ban approach and instead directs the state’s Virginia Lottery Board to convene a work group to study interactive online sweepstakes games and report findings to key House and Senate committees by Dec. 1, 2026. The substitute passed on a 14–1 vote and carries the issue over to the 2027 session.
The original, introduced version of SB 579 would have treated operating or promoting an “online sweepstakes game” as illegal gambling, defining it as a dual-currency internet game that simulates casino-style games, lottery games, or sports betting, with civil penalties of $10,000 to $100,000 per violation.
At the Feb. 11 hearing, sponsor Bryce Reeves argued the market is “flying under the radar” and said lawmakers needed the regulator to do “more homework” because sweepstakes products are often confused with iGaming and similar offerings.
A separate Virginia iCasino bill still targets sweepstakes operators
Even with SB 579 effectively parked, Virginia’s SB 118 (internet casino gaming) includes language that would treat certain sweepstakes activity as illegal unless offered by a licensed internet-gaming operator.
SB 118 cleared the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee with a substitute on an 8–6–1 vote (eight yes, six no, one abstention).
The committee substitute allows each casino gaming operator to run up to three internet gaming platforms, with a $2 million platform fee per platform notice of intent, and sets additional licensing fees (including an initial internet gaming operator licensing fee of $500,000).
Crucially for sweeps, the bill defines “sweepstakes” broadly (including mechanisms such as a dual-currency setup) and authorizes enforcement against anyone offering sweepstakes games without the proper license, including cease-and-desist orders and injunctive relief. It also creates civil penalties for unlicensed sweepstakes: up to $100,000 for a first offense and up to $250,000 for subsequent offenses, with each day treated as a separate offense.
Indiana moves faster with HB 1052 as regulation talk stalls
Indiana lawmakers, meanwhile, are moving the opposite direction.
On Feb. 11, 2026, a Senate committee advanced HB 1052 on an 8–0 vote, one week after the bill passed the Indiana House 87–11.
Senate sponsor Ron Alting told colleagues he had wanted to regulate and tax sweepstakes casinos, but said he received “a tremendous amount of feedback of ‘no go’,” including from leadership in both chambers.
Industry groups pushed back in testimony. Social Gaming Leadership Alliance representatives argued for a regulatory model and cited “upwards of $20 million” in potential annual tax revenue under an alternative approach.
Indiana regulators also played a role in the debate: testimony described the Indiana Gaming Commission as viewing sweepstakes casinos as not clearly illegal under current law, limiting the agency’s ability to send cease-and-desist letters, while still supporting a ban via HB 1052.
Source: SBC Americas
