Will Delaware Ban Sweepstakes Casinos Soon?

Sweepstakes casinos have been sweeping — pun fully intended — across the country. Its meteoric rise has been a double-edged sword.

On one hand, bettors living in states where casino is not a legal betting option have found an alternative. You see, these casinos work by giving players “sweep coins” or “gold coins” instead of traditional chips or cash bets. You don’t technically buy the sweep coins — you purchase play credits and the sweep coins are thrown in as a freebie, which makes them legal under sweepstakes law.

But on the other hand, sweepstakes have been a massive thorn in the side of states with casinos legalized and regulated. This goes for both retail casinos and iGaming, which lose market share to these new-age platforms. Well, Delaware betting is in a unique position. They are one of the few states where both retail and online casinos are perfectly legal.

But one of the states that neighbors Delaware just took action against sweepstakes casinos. And it’s not just any state — it’s New Jersey, which also legalizes both forms of casino play. Keep reading because the actions in New Jersey could have far-reaching consequences, not just in Delaware, but nationally.

Sweepstakes Casinos Get Banned In NJ

That’s right, New Jersey just became the latest state to shut down sweepstakes casinos. Governor Phil Murphy signed bill A5447 in August, which went into effect immediately.

New Jersey moved quickly on the issue. Murphy could have let the bill sit until November, when the Assembly returned from its summer recess. If he had, sweepstakes operators would have had another two and a half months to run without interference. Instead, his signature cut that window off right away.

For New Jersey’s regulated online casinos, this is a huge — and we mean huge — win. The industry has had a tough summer after lawmakers raised the tax rate on online casino and sportsbook revenue to 19.7 percent —a compromise from the 25 percent Murphy originally wanted. Eliminating sweeps competition helps balance out that blow somewhat.

New Jersey is now the fourth state to pass a full ban on sweepstakes casinos. Governors in Connecticut, Montana, and Nevada already signed similar laws earlier this year. Louisiana’s governor vetoed its bill, but regulators there still cracked down by sending more than 40 cease-and-desist orders to sweepstakes operators and popular offshore sportsbooks. Mississippi followed a similar path with its own enforcement actions.

Other states are circling the issue. Arkansas, Florida, and Maryland all floated legislation but failed to push it through. California has an active bill in the works. This raises the question: Will New Jersey be next?

Delaware Has Good Reason To Ban It

Delaware is one of the smallest states in the nation — both in land and population. However, it’s always been early to legal betting, and not just casinos. Delaware was the first state to legalize sports betting in 2018 after a New Jersey lawsuit helped overturn the federal ban on it. Could they once again be early to stopping sweepstakes casinos? They have an incentive too.

You see, Delaware’s casino and newly-added poker market is humming right. After 18 months with no regulated online poker, BetRivers — the only licensed operator in the state — re-introduced it in June. The result? In just 21 days of operation, poker revenue hit $53,609. Maybe peanuts, but we expect that number to swell once there’s more awareness around it. It’s a sleeping giant essentially.

We say that because there’s recent history to go off of. BetRivers helped revive the state’s casino market when it took over operations. In June, casino revenue hovered around $8 million. Before BetRivers? The state was barely cracking $1 million. So we’re talking an eightfold increase thanks to BetRivers. Who’s to say they can’t do similar for online poker? We wouldn’t bet against ‘em, that’s for sure.

This is why sweepstakes casinos pose such a threat. Delaware finally has a thriving regulated system — one that’s growing fast, creating reliable revenue streams, and proving that even small markets can succeed when properly managed. Every dollar that flows to an unregulated sweepstakes site is a dollar that doesn’t cycle back into the state’s tax coffers. Delaware regulators and casino operators know it, and they don’t want to see the momentum cut short.

So if you’re wondering whether Delaware will follow New Jersey’s lead and ban sweepstakes casinos, the success of their own market is a pretty big hint. They’ve invested in the infrastructure, partnered with a proven operator, and watched revenues skyrocket in the last year or so. Delaware has every reason to protect that progress — and cutting off sweepstakes before they dig deeper into the market may be the logical next step.

That’s our guess, by the way. As of this writing, Delaware lawmakers have yet to bring up the issue, little less draft a bill. However, we think that changes in 2026 when a new legislative year starts. We’ll monitor the situation and post any new updates if we hear ’em in the meantime.