The Indiana House of Representatives has voted 87-11 in favor of advancing House Bill 1052 to the state Senate, but amended the anti-sweepstakes legislation to remove a provision which would have criminalized the operation of sweepstakes games.
HB 1052 was originally brought forth by Indiana Representative Ethan Manning in December 2025 and prohibits online sweepstakes games which leverage dual-currency or multi-currency systems of payment.
The House also amended HB 1052’s language to include "multi-currency" payments, given the previous iteration only featured language referring to dual-currency systems of payment for sweepstakes operations.
Instead of enforcing criminal action, SB 1052 would now subject either an operator or individual to a civic penalty of $100,000, as the legislation is one of few in the US to not include penalties for affiliates or suppliers working with sweepstakes platforms.
On January 23, the Indiana House Public Policy Committee unanimously voted to pass HB 1052, but was the first to issue an amendment which downgraded proposed criminal penalties to the civic level.
In response to HB 1052’s approval, Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) Managing Director Sean Ostrow released a statement calling for “sensible regulation” of sweepstakes casinos rather than a legal ban.
“Social Plus games have been operating lawfully in Indiana since 2012 and are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers,” Ostrow said.
“Rather than a ban that would criminalize law-abiding businesses while doing nothing to stop illegal operators, we believe sensible regulation is the pragmatic pathway forward.”
The Association has proposed a regulatory framework that it projects would generate over $20m in annual revenue for Indiana while enforcing “strict age verification, data privacy and responsible gameplay protections.”
The SGLA previously submitted testimony regarding HB 1052 on January 6, describing the legislation as an "overly broad attempt" to safeguard residents from "bad actors" in social plus gaming.
The Maryland Senate Budget and Tax Committee prefiled Senate Bill 112 on January 13, which proposes a ban on interactive games that ‘utilize multiple currency systems of payment’
