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OAKLAND PARK, Fla. - (Gambling911.com) - Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, this week sent letters to Reddit, Snap and TikTok demanding they stop carrying ads for sweepstakes casino websites. He has given the companies until October 23 to confirm removal and explain their prevention plans.
Uthmeier also sent a letter to Google, which owns YouTube.
“It has come to my attention that your company may be advertising illegal ‘sweepstakes’ casinos on its social media platforms to residents of Florida,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter to Google.
“Promoting illegal gambling is a crime under Florida law.”
But Gambling911.com has uncovered media outlets in Uthmeier's own backyard promoting the likes of Mega Bonanza and Stake.us. The state of Florida filed a lawsuit against Stake last month.
Take the News-Press, which is the local newspaper of Fort Myers. It is part of the USA TODAY Network/Gannett and dates back to 1884.
A screenshot obtained by Gambling911.com shows various sweepstakes casinos being ranked “by the News-Press.” That alone, however, might not constitute evidence that the casinos are being specifically marketed to Florida residents.
Current third-party traffic estimates put News-Press.com at roughly 950,000 to 1 million monthly visits, with approximately 86.6% of its traffic originating in the United States. The site also attracts visitors from Canada, India, the UK and Brazil. So while the News-Press is fundamentally a Southwest Florida local publication, its online audience extends well beyond the state.
But the page in question specifically promotes the "Best Florida online casinos and apps to try for free this week".
Author Alaina Morris opens with "The best Florida online casinos available in September 2026 give players the chance to choose from a wide selection of slots and table-style games using virtual coins and credits for free and legally. These games are played for entertainment, giving players casino-style fun without having to risk any real money at social casinos."
It's a striking juxtaposition in light of the Florida Attorney General's recent actions.
To be clear, The News-Press itself is not necessarily assigning its own journalists to rank sweepstakes casinos.
Gannett entered a major partnership with Gambling.com Group specifically to distribute sports-betting and online-casino content across USA TODAY and Gannett's local newspapers. Gannett's own announcement says Gambling.com Group would supply content and that the arrangement was designed to “monetize our sports traffic.”
Uthmeier is taking the position that the typical dual-currency sweepstakes-casino model is illegal gambling, though the state does not currently make all sweepstakes or all dual-currency promotions categorically illegal in Florida.
The state still permits legitimate sweepstakes/game promotions. Under Fla. Stat. §849.094, a sweepstakes can be conducted in connection with the sale of a bona fide product or service, but an operator cannot require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase as a condition of entry. Florida's Department of Agriculture expressly says legitimate sweepstakes remain legal and that consumers cannot be required to pay to participate.
Florida lawmakers failed to pass sweeping gambling-enforcement measures during the 2026 legislative session. House Bill 591, which sought to prohibit certain gambling activities conducted outside the Seminole Tribe's gaming framework, stalled in a House subcommittee. Senate Bill 1580, a broader measure targeting illegal gambling, passed the Senate, while an amended version cleared the House 82-31 on March 11. The Senate, however, did not resolve the House changes before the session ended.
That legislative setback hasn't stopped Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier or law enforcement agencies from aggressively pursuing alleged illegal gambling operations already operating within the state. Over the past year, authorities have seized hundreds of illegal slot machines and made numerous arrests across multiple counties as part of a widening crackdown. The enforcement effort has even reached into law enforcement itself, with a local sheriff becoming entangled in one of the investigations.
Interestingly, a sweepstakes-casino tracking service that checks operators' published restricted-state terms reported on September 22, 2026 that 170 of the 173 platforms it tracks still accept Florida players.
This includes one of the sweepstakes casinos Uthmeier is suing. Customers in Florida can still access Chumba's sweepstakes offering and play with redeemable Sweeps Coins, according to Chumba's current rules. One Florida-specific restriction identified in its rules is a $5,000 maximum prize per spin/play.
While identifying prediction markets as part of Florida's growing gambling-enforcement problem, Uthmeier is yet to take any enforcement action against these businesses.
Due to Florida's strict gambling laws and the state's 2021 gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe, the tribe's own Hard Rock Bet is the only real money gambling website regulated to take bets in the state. Yet Draftkings recently announced their sports and casino app is now available in Florida. DraftKings sports betting commercials have long aired throughout the state of Florida since the US Supreme Court overturned The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. This football season marks the first time Florida residents can place sports bets on the DraftKings app, though these are limited to just Yes and No options via their prediction market platform as opposed to traditional sportsbook spreads and props.
- Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
