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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has sent out letters to 14 sweepstakes casinos and offshore gambling sites, threatening legal action if the companies do not stop their operations in the state by December 1.
Ellison partnered with Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety to write the letters, which addressed multiple dangers that sweeps and offshore sites present.
“Illegal online casinos and sweepstakes sites make big promises but deliver only risk to Minnesota consumers,” Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said in a statement about the letters. “Most are based outside the United States to avoid laws, regulations, and enforcement measures. There’s no accountability, no protection for players, and no way to know if the betting will be run fairly.”
The letters are the latest in what has been a wave of pushback on sweeps and offshore casinos.
Ellison takes aim at sweeps casinos, offshore online casinos, and sportsbooks
Minnesota’s AG sent two types of letters: one for sweeps operators and another for operators of illegal offshore online casinos and sportsbooks.
His letter to sweepstakes casinos noted that he considers them illegal because they meet the three criteria for the state’s lottery rules:
- They offer prizes
- The prize is awarded through chance instead of skill
- The player considers the prospect of winning a prize when purchasing a platform’s currency (sweeps coins, for example)
In short, Ellison said, sweepstakes casinos offer gambling.
“Other factors that indicate that the true purpose of social sweepstakes casinos is gambling, rather than merely entertainment, are that they include the casino-like atmosphere of the sites; the perpetual duration of the sweepstakes; the high payout percentage; restrictions on consumers redeeming prizes; and consumers valuing the sweepstakes entries more highly than the free social casino games,” he said.
Additionally, Ellison said sweeps casinos deceive consumers by promoting themselves as free-play websites, therefore making them seem legal when, in fact, they are not.
In his letter to illegal online casinos and sportsbooks, Ellison called out operators offering unregulated gaming. Any sports betting or online casino operating in Minnesota must go through a licensing process that binds them to a wide range of regulations and responsible gambling protocols.
Offshore websites offering gambling on illegal platforms operate outside of those regulations, putting users at risk.
“These sites are injurious to Minnesota residents because they enable unregulated online gambling while lacking any consumer protections or accountability to ensure players receive the cash or prizes they may win,” he wrote. “For example, these sites lack robust age verification measures or tools to allow self-exclusion.”
Online sports betting and online casinos are illegal in Minnesota.
Tribe in Minnesota applauds Ellison’s move
Two days after Ellison notified the public about his letters, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), which runs two Minnesota casinos, published a statement that supported the attorney general’s stance on sweeps and offshore gambling sites.
The tribe argued that the sites are a threat to the state’s legal operators that have gone through a rigorous licensing process and abide by a substantial body of regulations.
“There are no consumer protections imposed on sweepstakes online casinos,” the tribe said in its statement. “Sweepstakes websites are able to scam the public and prey upon minors, with no accountability … Tribal governments play by the rules when operating their tribal casinos; so should all others who offer gaming to the public.”
Minnesota could be losing more than $1 billion to illegal sites
In 2024, research firm Yield Sec published a report that estimated the amount of tax revenue states were losing to illegal gambling sites.
The report suggested that Minnesota is losing around $1.5 billion of illegal igaming revenue and $929 million of illegal sports betting revenue.
