After Tennessee’s anti-sweeps bill reached the final stage earlier this month, Governor Bill Lee officially signed Senate Bill 2136 and House Bill 1885 into law. With no momentum for regulated iGaming, there is no platform available for Tennessee players. That increases risk that users could play at offshore sites.
Tennessee’s crackdown on sweepstakes casinos appeared inevitable after Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti issued a wave of cease-and-desist letters to operators in late 2025. The enforcement campaign prompted many major sweepstakes brands to exit the state before lawmakers moved to formally put together a ban during the 2026 legislative session.
We saw operators leave Tennessee even before this sweepstakes ban was put into place. This included Chumba Casino, Fortune Coins, Global Poker, Hello Millions, High 5 Casino, Legendz, Luckyland, McLuck, Modo, Sportzino, Stake, WOW Vegas, Yay Casino, and Zula Casino.
“The only thing you can be sure about with an online sweepstakes casino is that it’s going to take your money,” Skrmetti said in a December news release, arguing that sweepstakes casinos were designed to appear legitimate while operating without meaningful consumer protections.
At the time, the attorney general’s office also warned that additional operators still active in Tennessee should view the enforcement actions as notice that the state would not tolerate illegal gambling activity.
The legislative push that followed ultimately culminated in a conference committee process, where House and Senate lawmakers negotiated language before advancing the measure to final passage. The Tennessee House later approved the conference committee report by a 69-17 vote.
Considering the rapid progression in the sweepstakes crackdown in Tennessee, it’s no surprise to see Gov. Lee sign these bills into law.
While Tennessee lawmakers moved quickly to eliminate sweepstakes casinos, there has been virtually no momentum toward creating a regulated online casino market in the state.
Unlike states that have explored iGaming expansion through commercial or tribal casino frameworks, Tennessee does not have any land-based casinos to build from. Instead, regulators and lawmakers have largely focused their attention on enforcement efforts tied to illegal online gambling and sweepstakes platforms.
That approach became increasingly clear throughout the 2026 legislative session, where there wasn’t any legislation introduced for a regulated iGaming market.
This means that Tennessee players don’t have any options for iGaming at the moment. This could increase the risk for users to play at offshore sites, which don’t have the same consumer safeguards in place. That’s the risk with banning sweepstakes casinos without introducing a regulated alternative.
Although Tennessee does not offer legal online casino gaming, residents can still access regulated iGaming platforms by traveling to states where online casinos are regulated.
The closest state with legal online casinos is Michigan, which launched regulated iGaming in 2021. Michigan offers a full online casino market featuring licensed operators such as BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, and others under oversight from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
Other states with fully regulated online casino markets include:
