Louisiana Bill Would Add Sweepstakes Casino Offenses to State Racketeering Law With Up to 50-Year Prison Sentences

Louisiana lawmakers are advancing House Bill 53 in the state’s 2026 legislative session, a measure that would add sweepstakes casino offenses to Louisiana’s racketeering statute and expose operators to fines of up to $1 million and prison sentences of up to 50 years. The bill was pre-filed by Representative Bryan Fontenot in January 2026 and is moving through the legislature as the session approaches its June 1 adjournment deadline. If enacted, it would represent the most severe criminal consequence for sweepstakes casino operators of any state law passed to date.

Louisiana has taken an exceptionally aggressive posture toward sweepstakes casinos even without a formal ban law. In June 2025, Governor Jeff Landry vetoed a ban bill not because he supported the platforms but because he argued existing Louisiana law already made them illegal. Following the veto, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and the Attorney General’s office issued more than 40 cease-and-desist orders to sweepstakes operators. Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a formal legal opinion that online sweepstakes casinos violate multiple provisions of state law. Most major brands exited Louisiana entirely in response.

What HB 53 Would Do

House Bill 53 escalates the legal framework significantly. By adding “gambling by computer” and “gambling by electronic sweepstakes device” offenses to the state’s racketeering statute, the bill would categorize operators not as ordinary code violators but as racketeers. Penalties under the racketeering provision can reach $1 million in fines and 50 years of imprisonment per conviction. The language of the bill is broad enough to capture the full range of sweepstakes and social casino business models that have been operating under promotional prize frameworks across much of the country.

The bill’s advancement comes during a month in which multiple states have moved simultaneously against sweepstakes platforms. Tennessee’s governor signed a formal ban on sweepstakes casinos in May 2026. Oklahoma’s legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to make the platforms illegal beginning November 1. Iowa enacted new legislation strengthening regulators’ enforcement power over sweepstakes operators. The combined legislative wave signals that state-level resistance to sweepstakes casinos has reached a critical mass.

Impact on Players in Louisiana

For players in Louisiana, the functional impact has already arrived regardless of HB 53’s final outcome. The cease-and-desist campaign of 2025 left the state with almost no functioning sweepstakes casino access from legitimate brands. The question HB 53 answers is not whether Louisiana players can access these platforms — they generally cannot — but what the legal consequences are for operators who might consider re-entering the market or continuing to serve Louisiana residents in defiance of regulatory orders.

Sweepstakes casinos have argued that their promotional prize model is protected under federal and state sweepstakes law and does not constitute gambling because no purchase is required to participate. That argument has faced increasing legal skepticism in states like Louisiana, where enforcement authorities have chosen to treat the dual-currency model as gambling by a different name. With the 2026 legislative session concluding by June 1, the fate of HB 53 will be known within days.