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Industry urges regulation, not ban, on online sweepstakes; committee seeks more information
Summary
Representatives of 'social plus' sweepstakes operators urged the committee to regulate and tax lawful operators rather than prohibit online sweepstakes; the Gaming Commission said enforcement of offshore actors remains challenging and requested time to compile information.
At the committee's second agenda item, LSO presented draft 27LSO0098, which would make offering online casinos or sweepstakes games a professional-gambling felony for operators. Industry witnesses including Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), ARB Interactive, and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance urged lawmakers to modernize sweepstakes law and create a regulatory and tax framework instead of a ban.
VGW representatives argued their products are "free to play with sweepstakes promotions" and emphasized built-in protections such as geolocation, age checks, self-exclusion, and purchase limits. Lloyd Melnick of VGW said the company had operated in Wyoming since 2012 and warned that banning lawful operators would send players to unregulated offshore sites that provide no consumer protections. In rebuttal, Bill Gantz (Duane Morris) cautioned the committee that the draft's proposed definition of "online casino or sweepstakes game" risked overbreadth and could criminalize commonplace, free-to-enter promotions if not narrowed.
The committee debated whether to move the prohibition draft forward. A motion to advance the bill was made but then withdrawn as members asked Director Laramendi to provide more detailed research on current operations, enforcement challenges and whether the platforms cited operate legally under existing consumer-protection statutes. Laramendi agreed to compile cases and related materials for the committee's review.
