In the latest legal drama for the sweepstakes casino market, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has decided to sue sweepstakes casino operators Stake and VGW, along with the payment processors that handle monetary transactions across the platforms.
Ohio, another key market for sweepstakes casinos, attempted its own ban against them last year, only for House Bill 298 to be stalled.
As part of the proposed legal shakeup, Uthmeier wants to ban these operators from operating within the Sunshine State and also reclaim the money that countless Florida players have spent on virtual Gold Coin and Sweeps Coin packages.
Stake and VGW Accused of Illegal Online Gambling Operations
Sweepstakes casinos have been facing extreme legal pressure in the US for the past couple of years and Florida is now the latest state to join the legal crackdown.
In a press release issued on August 19, AG James Uthmeier accused the sweepstakes casino platforms of running “illegal online gambling operations,” and “preying on Floridians, including minors and seniors, with deceptive marketing and 24/7 access, while dodging our state’s licensing, taxation, and consumer-protection requirements.”
This comes following Florida’s failed attempt at the start of this year to ban sweepstakes casinos via House Bill 1467 and Senate Bill 1404, which would have outlawed these sites and given the state greater control over wider sweepstakes gaming.
With those bills currently dead in the water, Uthmeier has chosen to directly target Stake and VGW instead, two of the biggest names in the online sweepstakes casino space.
The Stake crypto casino and Stake.us sister site are extremely popular with players at the moment, while VGW is the operator behind Chumba Casino, which has over 1 million officially registered users, as well as Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots.
As part of the two lawsuits filed by Uthmeier, one of the aims is to seek compensation for Floridians who have purchased ‘Gold Coin’ packages across VGW’s sweepstakes casino sites or Stake, which typically come with ‘Sweeps Coins’ or ‘Stake Cash’ as bundled add-ons.
In 2025, a Washington state jury ordered High 5 Casino, another popular sweepstakes casino brand, to pay out $24.9 million in damages to players after it was found the company’s social casino model was in violation of Washington’s gambling laws.
If a similar outcome is to happen in Florida against VGW and Stake, it would be the biggest shock for the market since New York and California issued bans against sweepstakes casinos last year.
Sweepstakes Operators “Cannot Hide” from Florida
After issuing a statement to the press, Florida AG James Uthmeier also took to X, formerly Twitter, to put out a video statement further condemning Stake and VGW:
“Sites like Stake and those run by VGW market themselves as ‘sweepstakes’ or ‘social casinos’, but they offer real gambling, slots, blackjack, and poker. They’ve raked in hundreds of millions of dollars from people in our state. These websites do not follow the safeguards or provide consumer protections that are required of licensed casinos under Florida law.”
We’ve filed lawsuits against the operators of these sites, along with their financial facilitators and promoters. We’re seeking to recover every dollar consumers lost under Florida’s gambling recovery laws.”
These companies cannot hide illegal gambling behind a sweepstakes label.”
The primary issue that Uthmeier and Florida have with sweepstakes casino operators is that they effectively operate just like regular online casinos do, except players place bets with Sweeps Coins rather than dollars.
These coins can then be exchanged for prizes like cryptocurrencies, gift cards, and cash transfers, fueling the gambling incentive among players.
A growing number of other states, most recently including Indiana and Maine, have taken similar stances and successfully passed legislative bills banning sweepstakes casinos.
Florida has, at least so far, been unable to do this, but it will be looking to join the dozen other states to have banned sweepstakes casinos since 2024 if it can take down VGW and Stake first.
The sweepstakes casino market itself is still experiencing unbelievable levels of growth, though, having recently been valued at $9.6bn and projected to grow to $13.49bn by the time 2031 arrives.
How Sweepstakes Casinos Work
On the surface, sweepstakes casinos operating within Florida and other states appear almost identical to regular online casinos, as almost all of the game categories and user interfaces are what players have experienced countless times.
According to the guides on SweepsPlays website, the major difference is that sweepstakes casinos only let players bet free-to-play Gold Coins or prize-winning Sweeps Coins rather than actual cash.
Players pick games, bet Sweeps Coins, and then redeem prizes such as gift cards once they collect enough of these coins.
The issue with Sweeps Coins is that they function as a substitute for the US dollar, with 1 SC converting to $1 when it comes to prize redemptions.
Florida lawmakers are unhappy with this due to the fact that Sweeps Coins have no value in real life, it allows them to skate around established gambling laws.
As a result, a rising number of states have started to classify dual-currency sweepstakes casinos as legitimate gambling platforms, although the debate is still largely split as to whether these sites are truly outlets for gambling in the traditional sense.
Is It the End for Sweepstakes Casinos in Florida?
Florida may have taken an anti-sweepstakes casino stance since 2024, but sweepstakes casinos are still continuing to operate there due to no official legislation being passed against them yet.
If AG James Uthmeier’s two lawsuits against VGW and Stake turn out to be successful, then it will almost certainly trigger the withdrawal of all major sweepstakes operators currently active in Florida, and many of them may opt to leave ahead of time.
The potential success of these lawsuits would likely be followed up by new legislative bills getting the thumbs up from the Florida House and Senate.
However, there’s no guarantee of success here for Uthmeier, as Stake and VGW maintain the argument that sweepstakes casinos are safe gaming platforms that don’t force players to make any type of deposit against their own will.
Sweepstakes casino fanatics in Florida will need to keep an eye on this one, as it could be a game-changer.
