SGLA Calls the Ban “Rushed” and “Short-Sighted”
In a statement that reads less like a policy memo and more like a warning shot, the SGLA said Hochul’s approval of the ban was “rushed” and ignored the economic data laid out in front of her.
Executive Director Jeff Duncan said:
“Governor Hochul had the opportunity to protect consumer choice and New York’s economic interests. Instead, she chose a short-sighted path, closing the door on choice, innovation, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity.”
In SGLA’s eyes, New York didn’t just miss the mark. It never bothered to look at the target.
The $1 Billion Question: What New York Just Gave Up
Before the bill passed, the SGLA warned that an outright ban would wipe out up to $1 billion a year in economic impact — not just in state tax revenue, but across small-business ad spend, tech and media partnerships, marketing supply chains, and creator and affiliate income.
That number wasn’t something they invented in-house either; it came from analysis by Eilers & Krejcik, one of the better-known data firms in the gaming space.
From the Alliance’s point of view, New York didn’t just push ahead despite that research, it acted as if it didn’t exist.
SGLA Says New York Took the Perks and Left the Problems
The SGLA isn’t just mad about the ban, it’s mad about how it was built. The group argues that S5935 strips out popular promotional features that players actually use, but doesn’t offer any kind of replacement framework or path to regulation.
In their view, the law hurts consumers who would rather stick with legal, know-your-customer sweepstakes than wander into offshore casinos, and it undercuts what they call New York’s “innovation economy” in gaming and media.
The Alliance is simply saying that this doesn’t protect anyone, it just pushes the same demand into darker corners of the internet.
What SGLA Wanted Instead
From the start, SGLA wasn’t asking New York to leave sweeps casinos alone, it was asking the state to regulate them, not erase them. The Alliance’s pitch was simple: license the operators, tax the activity, set clear rules, and turn the vertical into a predictable revenue stream.
Backed by Eilers & Krejcik’s analysis, they argued a regulated model could deliver more than $80 million a year in recurring state revenue, while giving players stronger consumer protections than the current gray-zone setup.
In the end, Albany went the other way. After months of pressure from the Attorney General, the Gaming Commission, and 26 cease-and-desist letters that had already chased most operators out, the momentum shifted to a clean ban. California tried to reshape the space. New York simply decided to shut it down.
New York Isn’t the First State to Shut the Door
New York isn’t the first state to slam the door on sweepstakes casinos, it’s just the biggest one so far. And that’s what really has SGLA worried.
In 2025 alone, bans or near-bans have rolled through California, Connecticut, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey and now New York. Attorneys general in Minnesota, West Virginia, Louisiana and Michigan have gone the enforcement route instead, leaning on subpoenas and cease-and-desist letters to chase operators out.
And the next wave is already lining up: Maine’s LD 2007, Indiana’s HB 1052, and Florida’s HB 591 all take aim at the same dual-currency model, with Florida’s bill which goes even further by treating most unlicensed online gambling as a potential felony-level offence.
SGLA has pushed back in every one of these fights. So far, the pattern is pretty clear: the bans keep moving, whether the trade group likes it or not.
Why This Fight Matters for Players, Operators, and Affiliates
The sweeps ban doesn’t just hit operators like Chumba, LuckyLand, Pulse or Fortune Coins. It runs straight through the whole ecosystem, including payment processors, geolocation vendors, media companies, creators, and affiliates promoting sweepstakes casinos online. Anyone tied to the model, even indirectly, is suddenly part of the risk calculus.
That’s what makes New York different: promoting a legally grey sweeps brand there isn’t just “a bit risky” anymore, it could come back to bite you when it’s time to apply for, renew, or expand a gambling license. And with the legal market snapping shut, players are left looking for somewhere else to go, while lawmakers quietly worry that the only ones truly celebrating are offshore casinos.
The Bottom Line
New York didn’t look for a middle ground or a licensing model, it just killed the sweepstakes casino model with one signature. The SGLA’s warning about lost revenue might be valid, but whether anyone in Albany cares is a different story.
Blaise Luis
