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Three of New York Senate’s Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee unanimously forwarded a bill on Tuesday that would enshrine new restrictions on online sweepstakes games in the state. The bill, sponsored by the committee’s chair Sen. Joseph Addabbo, would ban online games that employ a dual-currency system and/or simulate casino-style gaming as part of a sweepstakes in New York.
for the bill in the full Senate is less certain. The committee hearing featured only three of its seven , including Sen. Addabbo himself as the chair. He was ed by the two Republicans on the committee, Sens. James Tedisco and Pamela Helming.
Gambling efforts in New York this year have been focused on the licensing process for three downstate brick-and-mortar casinos. The advancement of Addabbo’s bill is another sign that momentum to restrict sweepstakes-based online casino games is building across the United States.
SB5935 moves to the New York Senate floor
Movement on Addabbo’s SB 5935 has been quick. Addabbo filed the bill on March 4 and the bill got a brief hearing on Tuesday with two of the three present of the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee voting to recommend the bill and the other voting to advance the bill out of the committee without a recommendation.
S5935 is not yet scheduled for consideration on the full Senate floor. At this time, there is no companion bill in the New York Assembly, the lower chamber of New York’s legislature.
In January, online casino games in the state without a sweepstakes element.
That bill to regulate real-money online casino games has yet to see any movement in the same committee that Addabbo chairs. Considerations for new physical casinos in the southern part of the state have dominated the discussion when it comes to gambling in New York.
Licensing downstate casinos may preempt other gambling considerations
Addabbo and others in the New York legislature have pushed for expansion to include online casinos in previous years but seen little action on the issue while decisions are pending regarding as many as three casinos in the “downstate” region of New York. State agencies have given themselves through the end of 2025 to decide which parties will receive those licenses.
In the meantime, other government officials in New York have narrowed their focus to facilitating that licensing process to the exclusion of other gaming-related concerns. For example, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has not included any revenue from legal online casino play in her recent budget proposals.
If SB 5935 does see further movement, it would put New York on par with other US states regarding legislation tackling the sweepstakes online casino issue. While no bills targeting such activity have yet become law, some are approaching the finish line.
Concurrent efforts in multiple US states pose threat to sweepstakes online casinos
In of active legislation, New York is one of six states that qualify in of bills that would restrict the current operations of sweepstakes-based online casino games. Mississippi is the closest to actually doing so, as both chambers of its legislature have ed different versions of a proposal but have yet to meet in conference to produce a solitary bill to advance to Gov. Tate Reeves.
In Maryland, such legislation has cleared the Senate and a House committee. Other bills are in earlier stages.
Nevada has also recently seen a bill that would escalate penalties for offering gaming without a license, although the legislation does not mention sweepstakes or any of the crucial elements of such games.
Should any bill that aims to limit sweepstakes-based online casino games in New York or any other US jurisdiction become law, immediate court challenges are likely, especially if attempts to enforce the laws are undertaken. For the moment, New York is moving in that direction.
