Florida Atty. Gen. James Uthmeier is suing the operators behind the popular sites Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and Stake.us. “If it looks like a casino, takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino—and it is illegal under Florida law,” Uthmeier said in a statement last month, alleging that these sweepstakes casinos are operating illegally in the state. This follows New York’s recent successful lawsuit against VGW, which secured an $8 million settlement after resolving allegations that the company unlawfully operated online gambling platforms through its sweepstakes casino brands.

Florida Wants to Crackdown on Sweepstakes Casinos and Recover Player Losses

At the start of the year, Florida attempted to follow the footsteps of a dozen other states by completely banning sweepstakes casinos. These new ‘free-to-play’ platforms have caused major controversy in the US post-COVID, so lawmakers pushed for legislative changes via Senate Bill 1404 and House Bill 1467, both of which failed to pass. And with 2027 now fast approaching, the state’s Attorney General is shifting focus away from an outright ban to just focusing on bringing down two of the major operators.

There are two lawsuits actively going on. The first is against VGW, the operator behind Chumba Casino and Global Poker, and its payment processors. The second is against Stake, a brand commonly associated with rapper Drake and streamers like Adin Ross, making it one of the biggest names in the entire sweepstakes space.

As part of the pushback against sweepstakes casinos operating in Florida, Uthmeier not only wants these major sites banned, but also to “recover every dollar” that Floridian players have lost to these companies, something that could potentially be done under the state’s gambling recovery laws.

Cases like this are becoming increasingly common against sweepstakes operators now and it was only last year when High 5 Casino was ordered to pay out a staggering $24.9 million in damages to its social casino players by a Washington state jury.

Yet despite how much legal pressure sweepstakes casinos are under in the US currently, none of the major operators are open to adopting their ‘sweepstakes’ business models, built on players purchasing Sweeps Coins packages that potentially unlock a gateway to winning prizes.

So far, at least, all operators like VGW have done is bump their minimum player ages from 18 to 21, although this hasn’t done anything in the grand scheme of things to stop these casinos from facing a mountain of lawsuits.

US Sweepstakes Casino Market Continues to Boom

The good news for VGW and Stake is that despite the legal heat that sweepstakes casinos are under, the market itself is thriving. As of 2026, the social sweepstakes casino market in America is valued at $10.2 billion, projected to reach $14.3 billion by 2030. New sweepstakes casinos, including KingPrize.com, SweepJungle, and more, are continuing to hit the internet every month, too, creating a market that now has over 400 standalone sites.

The ‘Gambling’ Debate

With a rising number of states actively looking to ban sweepstakes casinos, the gambling debate surrounding them only continues to grow.

When these casinos first burst onto the scene, they were legal in almost every state due to the fact they use a virtual dual-currency system, where players can either bet Gold Coins for free or compete for prizes using Sweeps Coins.

Over the past several years, though, more states have adopted the stance that sweepstakes casinos are gambling platforms and that they should fall under the same legal umbrella as sportsbooks and regular online casinos.

It’s something US lawmakers across different states remain stuck on, with the vast majority still enabling sweepstakes casinos to operate within state borders.

However, the tide is certainly starting to shift towards sweepstakes casinos being classified as legitimate gambling sites, as is now the case across New York, California, and other states that have recently been able to pass legislative bills against them.

Florida Seeking Penalties of Up to $15,000 Per Violation

As part of its proposed crackdown on Stake and VGW, Florida will be seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per willful violation and rising to $15,000 per violation for any play involving a minor, a senior or disabled customer.

The lawsuit is still in its very early stages, having only been filed last month, so an outcome isn’t expected until next year.

If Florida is able to ban both Stake and VGW while also recouping lost cash for players, it would be yet another monumental moment in the fight back against one of America’s fastest-growing iGaming verticals.

A slight reprieve for sweepstakes casinos is that the US currently remains more focused on prediction markets than any other type of gambling platform, which could potentially limit the number of cases and bans against them over the coming year.

For now, players in Florida will still be able to access the Stake, Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and LuckyLand Casino sites, but this could change rapidly if Attorney General James Uthmeier gets the outcome he’s pushing for.