Anti-sweepstakes bills fail in Florida
The SPGA has celebrated the shortfall of this latest anti-sweepstakes movement.
Key points:
– Two anti-sweepstakes bills have failed to advance in the state of Florida
– These latest short falls have killed anti-sweepstakes movements in the state for 2025
– The SPGA has celebrated these latest failures following similar recent outcomes in a handful of states across the US
The Florida Senate’s Bill 1404 and House Bill 1467, which sought to criminalise sweepstakes promotions, have fallen short in the state.
This latest news has been met with celebrations from the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) – which has clarified that the bills respective failures to advance has all but nullified attempts to outlaw sweepstakes in Florida for the remainder of 2025.
In more detail, as underlined by the SPGA, these bills would have criminalised sweepstakes promotions and created new criminal penalties for Floridians engaging with unlicensed games via their phones. Further, the association has specified that these legislations would have served to compound the issue of Florida’s growing multi-billion-dollar budget deficit.
Speaking on this latest legislative update, an SPGA spokesperson said: “The defeat of these bills continues a clear national trend. In the past few weeks, similar bills have been rejected in Arkansas, Maryland, and Mississippi. Lawmakers across the country are rejecting these anti-innovation, anti-business efforts that attempt to dictate what games American adults can play on their phones.
“This is a huge win, not just for the industry, but for every Floridian who values economic freedom and digital innovation. Once again, a state has seen through the scare tactics and rejected legislation that would have harmed consumers, businesses, and Florida’s economy.”
Good to know: Last week, the SPGA labelled New York’s sweepstakes bill amendments as ‘catastrophic’
Indeed, following the inception of the SPGA in September 2024, the organisation has been vocal in its active advocation of the promotional activity – even going to the mat with the American Gaming Association (AGA) towards the end of last year.
At the turn of the year, the association was hoping that New Jersey would become the first state to fully regulate sweepstakes but was let down when the assemblymen in the region instead filed a bill to ban the practice. Sweepstakes remain a flashpoint of contention within the US market – with this latest news evidencing the differing approaches being taken up by states across the nation.
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