Sweepstakes Casinos in Minnesota (2026)

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Minnesota?

Sweepstakes casinos are still available in Minnesota, but the state is closer to a ban than any other where the sites remain open. No Minnesota statute names the dual-currency model. Gambling is defined in Minnesota Statutes section 609.75 around the bet, meaning something of value staked on chance, and section 609.755 makes even placing a bet a misdemeanor, with heavier penalties for operators under section 609.76. Sweepstakes operators argue that free daily coins and mail-in entries mean nothing of value is staked. The Attorney General disagrees: in November 2025 Keith Ellison’s office told 14 operators that Sweeps Coins play is illegal gambling and gave them until December 1, 2025 to stop, describing the model as an attempt to rebrand poker chips as virtual currencies.

In 2026 the Senate passed a full ban, Senate File 4474, by 62-3 on April 30, but the House never took it up before the session ended on May 18. Minnesota’s tribes, which hold the state’s casino market, backed the bill through the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and will be back in 2027. For now the big brands continue to accept Minnesota players. We are not lawyers; read each site’s Minnesota terms and be ready for change.

Recent developments

• June 2025: the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division of the Department of Public Safety writes to 14 sweepstakes operators citing sections 609.75 to 609.76. Responses are mixed.
• October 2025: a second round of letters goes to 21 operators, warning that non-compliance could count against them if Minnesota ever licenses online betting.
• November 5, 2025: Attorney General Ellison issues cease-and-desist letters to 14 operators, including VGW’s LuckyLand, Zula Casino and Fortune Coins, with a December 1 deadline. Reports in early 2026 indicated that most named brands were still accessible.
• March 17, 2026: Senator Jordan Rasmusson introduces SF 4474; Representative Greg Davids carries the companion HF 4410. The bills would prohibit operating, conducting or promoting online sweepstakes games and bar banks, payment processors, geolocation providers, game suppliers and media affiliates from supporting them, with enforcement by the Department of Public Safety and the Attorney General.
• March 23, 2026: a motion to advance the mobile sports betting bill SF 4139 fails 22-44, leaving sports betting dead again.
• March 25 to April 27, 2026: SF 4474 clears the Commerce, Judiciary and Public Safety, State and Local Government and Finance committees, with the Senate waiving its deadlines to keep it alive.
• April 30, 2026: the Senate passes SF 4474 62-3 with an August 1, 2026 effective date.
• May 4, 2026: the House refers the bill to its Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, where it sits when the session ends on May 18. Governor Tim Walz signs a separate prediction-market ban the same day but calls no special session.

How Minnesota law treats sweepstakes and gambling

• Section 609.75: defines bets, lotteries and gambling devices. Legal exceptions include the State Lottery, licensed charitable gambling, pari-mutuel racing and tribal casinos under compacts.
• Section 609.755: making a bet, selling lottery chances or keeping a gambling place is a misdemeanor. Minnesota is one of the few states whose law reaches the bettor as well as the house, although there is no record of a resident being charged for online sweepstakes play.
• Section 609.76: operating or profiting from gambling is a gross misdemeanor or felony depending on scale.
• Regulators: the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (Department of Public Safety), the Gambling Control Board for charitable gambling, the Minnesota Racing Commission and the State Lottery. Tribal gaming is regulated by the tribes under federal law.

What Minnesota players should check

• Age: Minnesota’s legal age for the Lottery, pari-mutuel betting and most tribal casinos is 18, and most sweepstakes sites accept Minnesotans at 18. Several brands, including McLuck, Pulsz, Mega Bonanza and PlayFame, require 21.
• Terms and notices: operators named by the Attorney General may change their Minnesota status quickly. Watch for emails about redemption deadlines.
• Identity and location checks: expect KYC before a first redemption and geolocation on every session.
• Taxes: prizes are taxable income in Minnesota.

Other legal ways to play in Minnesota

Minnesota’s eleven tribal nations operate around 20 casinos under compacts signed from 1989, including Mystic Lake, Treasure Island and the Grand Casinos at Mille Lacs and Hinckley. Canterbury Park in Shakopee and Running Aces in Columbus offer horse racing and card rooms. The Minnesota Lottery has run since 1990. Charitable gambling, above all paper and electronic pull-tabs in bars, is the largest of its kind in the United States. There is no legal sports betting, no online casino and no online lottery; sports betting bills have failed every session since 2019 over disagreements between the tribes, the tracks and charities.

Staying up to date

We track the 2027 return of SF 4474, Attorney General and Department of Public Safety enforcement and every operator’s Minnesota policy. This page and the casino list are updated as soon as anything changes; the review date in the header shows when we last checked.