Mississippi bill goes on step further than most to completely ban sweepstakes

A bill in Mississippi seeks to ban all online sweepstakes casinos, with felony penalties of up to $100,000 fine, 10 years in prison, and asset forfeiture.

Mississippi’s Senate Bill 2104 aims to amend official state law to includes “any online, interactive, or computerized version of games within the prohibition on betting, gaming, or wagering”. That would effectively ban any online sweepstakes casinos, going one step further than some other states that are pursuing similar legislation but focused on dual-currency games. Six other states – New York, Indiana, Florida, Maine, Iowa, and Virginia – have already enacted bans of their own.

A bill has been filed in Mississippi to expressly ban online sweepstakes casinos. Bill language not limited to dual-currency. Each violation would be a felony, subject to $100K fine, up to 10 years in prison + forfeiture of assets. Link to SB 2104: https://t.co/eybCiB4mNx pic.twitter.com/QtEdNqaiid

— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) January 10, 2026

This isn’t the first time that Mississippi itself has pursued such a bill, with similar legislation failing to progress in April 2025, after sports betting was added to the bill.

SB 2104 also seeks to increase the criminal penalty from a misdemeanour to a felony. The penalty for violating the ban could therefore be as much as a $100,00 fine, 10 years in prison, and forfeiture of assets in connection with the prosecution of any violations if proven guilty.

Mississippi’s current approach to sweepstakes games

At the moment, brick-and-mortar internet sweepstakes businesses are already banned in Mississippi. While this change would cement online sweepstakes casinos as illegal, two cases have already effectively done so, with a state court finding that online sweepstakes games were also illegal in Moore v. Mississippi Gaming Comm’n and Mississippi Gaming Comm’n v. Six Electronic Video Gambling Devices.

If the ball was passed, Mississippi prosecutors would be able to choose whether to try cases either in the county where the offense occurred or in Hinds County. The Mississippi Gaming Commission would also be able to enter into contingency-fee agreements for prosecuting forfeitures tied to illegal gaming, putting more power into the hands of the Commission and prosecutors alike.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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