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Tennessee Attorney General Announces Enforcement Actions Against Sweepstakes Casinos
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti shared that he sent cease-and-desist orders regarding the operations of nearly 40 gaming websites.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti disclosed on December 29 that his letters to the operators of 38 websites offering online casino-style games with real money sweepstakes prizes resulted in those operators curtailing their operations in the state. In response to Skrmetti's cease-and-desist orders, all recipients have stopped selling digital currency packages to Tennesseans or have shared plans to do so with Skrmetti. Get in on the Caesars Palace Online Casino welcome bonus here:
Skrmetti announces compliance with cease-and-desist letters
According to a release from Skrmetti, "his office successfully halted the operation of multiple illegal online sweepstakes casinos in Tennessee." To do so, "the Attorney General sent formal cease-and-desist letters to almost 40 online sweepstakes casinos operating illegally."
In response to those actions, "all platforms that received a letter have already disabled the unlawful components of their platforms or have agreed on a date in the coming weeks for winding down their illegal services." The list of 38 operators includes some of the most prominent brands that offer games in the United States.
The statement characterizes the offending component as "a dual-currency system" that "serves as a façade to hide the fact that participants may engage in real-money gambling on these platforms." That offering "constitutes an illegal lottery prohibited by the Tennessee Constitution and violates Tennessee gambling and consumer-protection laws," according to Skrmetti.
While online sports wagering via licensed platforms is legal in Tennessee, online casino sites for real money are not part of the legal framework in the state. People in Tennessee who wish to avail themselves of the DraftKings Casino promo code and similar offers have to leave the state to do so.
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Map narrowing for sweepstakes casinos in the U.S.
As Skrmetti's statement alludes to, Tennessee is one of the latest states to take some kind of restricting action involving online sweepstakes casinos. The release notes that "the growing national crackdown reflects widespread concern over platforms using sweepstakes language as a loophole to run unregulated gambling operations."
California and New York passed new laws in 2025 to ban such gaming online. Meanwhile, gaming regulators and law enforcement agencies in many others, like Arizona, Louisiana, and Michigan, have also sent cease-and-desist orders to sweepstakes casino operators that have likewise resulted in operators geofencing those states out of their service areas.
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There has been no movement toward legalizing casino games online in Tennessee, but clearing the market of unlicensed operators could lend toward that end in the future. Skrmetti says he has had a degree of success in that regard.
Written by Derek Helling
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