A Sudden Change of Direction
Last summer, New Jersey appeared to settle the sweepstakes question for good. Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill banning sweepstakes casinos outright, placing the Garden State alongside Idaho and Washington. The vote was decisive, and the message felt final.
Now, that certainty is gone.
Senate Bill 1500 has resurfaced with a very different approach. Instead of outlawing sweepstakes casinos, it would absorb them into New Jersey’s regulated iGaming system, treating dual-currency platforms as if they were real-money online casinos.
That means licenses, taxes, compliance, and regulations. The gray area that once defined sweepstakes gaming would disappear entirely.
For a state that prides itself on regulatory clarity, this is a change worthy of note.
What SB 1500 Would Actually Do
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph P. Cray, would classify sweepstakes casinos as iGaming operators under New Jersey law.
If it passes, sweepstakes platforms would have to:
- Verify player age and identity
- Operate under New Jersey’s existing online casino rules
- Host servers in Atlantic City
- Pay the same iGaming taxes on revenue
There are no exceptions and no relaxed standards. SB 1500 doesn’t protect sweepstakes casinos, it reclassifies them.
They have only two choices now, either meet New Jersey’s existing casino rules or leave the market entirely.
Why Revisit a Ban So Soon?
New Jersey just wrapped up its biggest gambling year on record, generating $6.9 billion across all gaming channels in 2025. Almost $3 billion of that came from online gambling alone, a jump of more than 20% year over year.
This is a state that regulates gambling aggressively, but with a practical mindset. For decades, the state has preferred managing gambling openly rather than pretending it doesn’t exist.
So when sweepstakes casinos didn’t disappear after the ban, lawmakers were left with a familiar question: Do you keep chasing them out, or do you regulate what players are already using?
SB 1500 suggests some lawmakers are leaning toward the second option.
Why This Bill Stands Out in 2026
New Jersey’s legislature has been busy this year. Bills targeting sports betting fees, advertising practices, micro-bets, and college props have all resurfaced.
But SB 1500 is different.
Those proposals fine-tune an already mature gambling system. SB 1500 reopens a question that seemed settled just months ago. Instead of tightening the rules, it asks whether the state picked the right approach in the first place.
It also breaks from the national trend. While most states are choosing bans or aggressive enforcement, New Jersey is at least considering whether regulation could work better.
That makes SB 1500 more than just another gambling bill. It makes it one to watch.
What This Means for Sweepstakes Casinos
Getting licensed in New Jersey is expensive, heavily regulated, and anything but easy. Compliance costs are high, oversight is constant, and margins get thinner fast. For smaller sweepstakes operators, that alone could be a deal-breaker.
But for larger platforms, regulation offers something bans never do: certainty. Clear rules. A stable market. A future that doesn’t depend on legal guesswork.
And for players, it would mean consumer protections, responsible gaming tools, and clear rules, instead of frozen accounts, or platforms vanishing overnight.
The Bigger Picture
New Jersey has never treated gambling like a moral panic. It treats it like infrastructure.
For decades, the state has regulated, taxed, and monitored gambling tightly, and in the process has pulled in more than $12 billion in taxes and fees while building one of the most closely watched gaming markets in the country.
From that perspective, SB 1500 actually makes sense, even if it clashes with last year’s sweepstakes ban. It reflects the same instinct New Jersey has always had. If activity exists, the state would rather bring it under control than chase it into the shadows.
Whether the bill advances or not, it sends a clear signal: Sweepstakes casinos are no longer just a legal nuisance. They’re a policy problem states are actively trying to solve.
What Happens Next
SB 1500 has been reintroduced, not passed. It still faces political resistance, pressure from industry leaders, and the lingering shadow of last year’s ban.
But the conversation has shifted.
New Jersey isn’t just asking whether sweepstakes casinos should exist. It’s asking whether banning them was the right answer in the first place.
And when a state this influential starts asking that question, the rest of the country tends to listen.
Whether SB 1500 becomes law or not, it is clear that the sweepstakes debate in New Jersey is far from over.
Blaise Luis
