On August 22, 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed in Ohio against Sunflower Ltd. & Sunflower Technology, Inc., which operates sweepstakes casinos like Crown Coins Casino.
The plaintiff, Kelly McNamara, is representing herself and other affected players, alleging that Crown Coins and iCasino are illegal gambling under Ohio law. The suit seeks damages for gambling losses and a court order to shut down Sunflower’s sweepstakes operations in Ohio.
This class action lawsuit relies heavily on Ohio’s gambling loss recovery statute (Ohio Rev. Code §§ 3763.02, 3763.04), a 19th-century law that allows gamblers, or their families, to recover losses from illegal wagering. By invoking this statute, McNamara is looking to recover money lost by Ohio players.
In addition to financial recovery, the complaint looks to ban Sunflower from continuing its sweepstakes operations in Ohio, which includes Crown Coins and iCasino.
If Crown Coins is forced to exit Ohio, that would be the eighth unavailable state for the platform. The list where it is currently not operating includes: Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, New York, Nevada and Washington.
By bringing the case under Ohio’s gambling loss recovery statute, this suit could set an important precedent for how courts in other states evaluate the legality of sweepstakes-style platforms. This goes not only for Crowns Coins, but also other prominent names, such as Chumba, Stake.us, LuckyLand Slots, WOW Vegas, Pulsz, and more. If this suit is successful, it could open the door to further class actions.
Beyond the courtroom, the Ohio class action could prompt state lawmakers to reexamine sweepstakes casino laws. Ohio’s use of the gambling loss recovery statute, which is a law dating back to the 1800s, highlights the lack of modern regulation around online sweepstakes models.
If courts side with the plaintiffs, it may encourage legislatures in Ohio and other states to draft explicit statutes targeting or regulating dual-currency sweepstakes casinos, closing loopholes that operators currently rely on. Otherwise, it could lead to outright bans, as seen in Connecticut and Montana.
Either way, this could force sweepstakes operators to rethink their business models, and some may even potentially exit the state altogether.
Similar cases have been filed in states like New Jersey, Illinois, and Alabama, targeting sweepstakes casinos that rely on the dual-currency model as an attempt to comply with sweepstakes laws.
Major operators like VGW, WOW Vegas, and now Sunflower Ltd. have all been drawn into costly litigation, often alongside their payment processors, affiliates, and marketing partners. This was recently seen in California, where VGW and its partners face a class action lawsuit.
The suit in California also targeted a prominent social media influencer within the sweepstakes space, which may set a precedent for online marketing with these platforms. It may deter other prominent online figures from partnering with sweeps operators and showcasing their sites.
All in all, the nationwide scrutiny of sweepstakes casinos could cause these operators to lose trust among consumers, pushing them towards regulated online casinos, and if not available in their states, offshore platforms. Given that the latter is not an ideal outcome, it appears that the U.S. sweepstakes industry is leaning towards some form of increased regulation.
