Minnesota Sweepstakes Casinos

Sweepstakes casinos are the closest thing to real-money online gambling in Minnesota, and most of the industry’s established brands remain available to residents despite the state’s recent enforcement efforts.

The most reputable sweepstakes casinos in Minnesota today include:

• Casino.click
• WOW Vegas
• Stake.us
• Ace.com

What makes sweepstakes casinos the next-best alternative is how similar they are to actual online gambling. A typical sweepstakes casino operates on two in-game currencies: Gold Coins (GCs) for entertainment only and Sweeps Coins (SCs) that are redeemable for cash prizes.

Players can buy GCs directly and use them to play casino-style games for fun, climb leaderboards, and practice unfamiliar games. The catch is that Gold Coins are not transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash prizes.

Sweeps Coins are the polar opposite of GCs. There’s no way to buy SCs, so the only way to acquire them is through promotions, giveaways, and mail-in requests. Unlike GCs, any SCs that you win through gameplay are redeemable for cash prizes.

See our full guide for more about how sweepstakes casinos work, which brands we recommend, and what to expect as a player:

• Sweepstakes Casinos USA

Are Sweepstakes Casinos Legal in Minnesota?

Minnesota law does not directly address online sweepstakes casinos, but the state’s top law enforcement officials have made their position clear on numerous occasions.

In June 2025, Minnesota’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGE) sent letters to three sweepstakes casinos and 11 offshore gambling sites to warn them that their offerings likely constituted illegal online gambling.

The warning letters had no effect, so Attorney General Keith Ellison sent a round of formal cease-and-desist letters to the same operators in late 2025. In a press release announcing the letters, Ellison specifically called out sweepstakes casinos and stated:

“Trying to rebrand poker chips as virtual currencies does not change the fact that these online gambling operations are unlawful.”

Nonetheless, most major sweepstakes casinos remain operational in Minnesota today. Without crystal-clear legislation or a formal court decision, the AGE has limited enforcement power on its own.

Minnesota Nearly Banned Sweepstakes Casinos in 2026

The Minnesota Legislature tried to settle the issue definitively in 2026 through SF 4474. The bill aimed to ban sweepstakes casinos outright by classifying them as illegal gambling.

Had it passed, the law would have criminalized “operating, conducting, or promoting an online sweepstakes game in Minnesota.” The bill’s final language was expansive; it would have covered not just operators, but also financial institutions, payment processors, technology providers, and marketing affiliates.

The Minnesota Senate approved SF 4474 on a vote of 62-3 in April 2026, but the House failed to bring its companion bill to a vote in time to beat the legislative deadline, so the effort died.

Note: Any bill that passes either chamber by such an overwhelming vote is likely to appear again, so players should not be surprised if sweepstakes casinos are eventually forced out of Minnesota.

Minnesota Online Gambling Laws

Minnesota’s gambling laws do not criminalize “online casinos” by name, but they’re written with language broad enough that they don’t need to. Under state law, every form of gambling that Minnesota hasn’t expressly authorized is prohibited by default, both for players and operators.

MN Stat § 609.75 defines a bet as an agreement in which two or more people agree to risk money or something else of value based on chance, even if some skill is involved.

Under MN Stat § 609.755, it is a misdemeanor to place a bet except when participating in state-authorized gambling activities, while MN Stat § 609.76 increases the penalties significantly for anyone involved in running or profiting from an illegal gambling business.

Although the state could theoretically charge players with misdemeanors for placing wagers with illegal online casinos, there’s no record of that occurring. For players, the primary risks are financial and privacy-related because the state does not regulate online casinos.

Unlike states that regulate online casinos, Minnesota does not investigate operators, inspect their software, or intervene if one refuses to pay.

Will Minnesota Legalize Online Casinos?

Minnesota is nowhere near legalizing online casinos.

The legislature’s recent gambling-related discussions have focused on online sports betting in Minnesota, and even those efforts have run into insurmountable obstacles to date.

Whether we’re discussing Minnesota’s difficulties in legalizing online sports betting or a future online casino effort, one of the primary challenges is crafting a bill that satisfies Minnesota’s tribal casino operators, which are extremely comfortable right where they are today.

Minnesota Tribes Have Little Incentive to Negotiate

Minnesota’s tribal nations were the first in the country to negotiate gaming compacts with a state government, and their compacts give them exclusive control over casino-style gambling. More importantly, their compacts are unique in two ways that explain why Minnesota will struggle to legalize online casinos.

First, the compacts were designed to run forever. As a result, there’s no way to renegotiate them unless both sides want to. The tribes have never had a reason to reopen negotiations, which makes perfect sense considering the next point.

Unlike other states with tribal gaming, Minnesota’s tribes share none of their casino revenue with the state. That makes Minnesota the friendliest state in the nation for tribal gaming.

In short, Minnesota’s tribes have a permanent monopoly over gambling and pay the state nothing in return (other than reimbursing the state for regulatory costs).

Any bill authorizing Minnesota online casinos without giving the tribes significant (if not absolute) control over the market threatens that position while offering the tribes little they don’t already have.

Market Potential of Minnesota Online Casinos

Legal Minnesota online casinos would generate considerable revenue (and taxes) if lawmakers ever pass a bill authorizing them.

Estimating a market’s potential is difficult because every state is unique, but we can get to some plausible rough estimates by looking at the results from other states with legal online casinos.

New Jersey online casinos generated roughly $2.91 billion in 2025, while Michigan reported $3.1 billion in gross internet gaming receipts. Both states’ per-resident online gambling proceeds work out to a remarkably similar number of roughly $305.

Minnesota’s population is around 5.83 million. Using a more conservative range of $250 to $300 per resident puts Minnesota’s online casino market potential at approximately $1.45 billion to $1.75 billion per year at market maturity.

Of course, per-resident comparisons ignore everything that makes states different (casino access, incomes, competing entertainment options, tax rates, and more). Even so, it’s hard to imagine a fully developed Minnesota online gambling market earning less than one billion per year, provided the state establishes a reasonable tax rate and licensing requirements.

Estimating the state’s take is even harder. Minnesota’s unique tribal gaming framework means there’s no data on land-based casino revenue and complicates any future discussions on tax rates. To date, Minnesota lawmakers have never proposed an online casino bill to even hint at how they would approach taxes and/or tribal revenue-sharing agreements.

Minnesota Online Casinos FAQ