Florida AG Sues VGW And Stake Over Sweepstakes Casinos

"These so-called 'sweepstakes' and 'social casinos' are illegal online gambling operations," Uthmeier said in a statement. "If it looks like a casino, takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino, and it is illegal under Florida law. These companies have been preying on Floridians, including minors and seniors, with deceptive marketing and 24/7 access, while dodging our state's licensing, taxation and consumer-protection requirements. They must be stopped." 

Both complaints open with identical language dismissing the sweepstakes label as a "talismanic cure-all," arguing that if it "looks, swims, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck."

The suits seek to enjoin Stake and VGW from operating in Florida, force forfeiture of winnings from their prior operation in the state, and impose civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each willful violation of state gambling law. The VGW complaint discloses a scale rarely put on the public record: the company generated more than $5 billion in revenue in 2025, with $3.7 billion of that attributable to Chumba Casino alone. 

Notably, the Florida suits target only sweepstakes operators rather than prediction markets, breaking from a 2026 pattern in which most attorneys general nationwide have trained their fire on Kalshi, Novig, and similar event-contract platforms instead.

Florida's own gambling market remains unusually restrictive, thanks to a 2018 constitutional amendment that requires voter approval for any expansion and largely locked in the Seminole Tribe's exclusive gaming rights. DraftKings and FanDuel spent at least $20 million backing a challenge to that exclusivity in 2022, but their petition campaign failed to qualify for the ballot, a landscape that helped produce Hard Rock Bet as the state's sole licensed online sportsbook. 

State regulators have form here, too, having sent cease-and-desist letters to PrizePicks, Underdog, and Betr over their daily fantasy operations back in 2023, well before sweepstakes casinos became popular.

Players in the state looking for a compliant alternative can consider reviewed social casino operators while the litigation plays out.

Sweepstakes gaming grew popular as online sports betting and iGaming legislation stalled following the 2018 repeal of the federal sports betting ban, and it accelerated further once daily fantasy operators like Underdog and PrizePicks drew their own regulatory scrutiny. 

California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have all banned sweeps in the past two years.