Connecticut Sweeps Ban Bill Moving Forward After Legislative Office Review
The Connecticut Legislative Commissioners' Office approved SB 1235 for a second time, paving the way for it to be heard on the Senate floor
A bill that would ban online sweepstakes casinos in Connecticut was tabled for the Senate calendar Tuesday after a successful second run-through with the Legislative Commissioners' Office (LCO).
SB 1235 previously passed through both the General Law and Judiciary Committees in unanimous fashion after being introduced in February, but it was submitted to the LCO after each passage. The bill was reviewed by that office again Monday and reported out of the committee Tuesday.
The Judiciary Committee offered a substitute file for the bill, submitted a favorable report to File 832, and had it added to the Senate Calendar. The bill contains various changes to multiple kinds of gaming verticals, with the ban on online sweeps the most prevalent one as Connecticut has both internet casino gaming and mobile sports betting. Those two gaming disciplines have produced a combined $32.4 million in state tax revenue through the first three months of 2025.
Key text regarding sweeps ban
The text involving the sweepstakes ban has been in the bill since it was filed, an add-on to the original language that states "no person shall conduct or promote a sweepstakes or a promotional drawing authorized by the provisions of section 53-278g." A third clause was added banning a person that "allows or facilitates participation in any real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering, unless such person is licensed under chapter 229b."
One of the points of contention among proponents of online sweepstakes casinos is that such a ban could lead to the unintended consequences of similar bans for companies that have membership rewards programs.
There is a specific subsection in the bill that addresses such an instance, noting those types of sweepstakes are legal if "the prize is not redeemed or redeemable for cash and the prize is only used as a discount to reduce the price of items purchased from such retail grocery chain. It also establishes the definition of a retail grocery chain as an operator or franchisor with five or more establishments "whose primary business is the sale of groceries."
SB 1235 would also ban lotto couriers in Connecticut, which is another flash point in gaming as some states are looking to legalize the practice and others are in various stages of banning them.
Chris Altruda was a sportswriter with ESPN, The Associated Press, and STATS for more than two decades before turning to the gambling industry at Sports Handle in 2019. When not crunching sports betting revenue figures,…
