«Growth of income from casino-lotteries: stars attract attention»
11 march 2026 в 19:13
According to analysts at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, revenues from sweepstakes casinos nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024, increasing from approximately $ 1.9 billion to $ 3.4 billion in net gaming revenue. These figures alone would attract attention, but the real news lies in who is participating in this process. Drake, Paris Hilton, and Ryan Seacrest have signed contracts as brand ambassadors for sweepstakes casino platforms, bringing with them millions of social media followers.
Sweepstakes casinos operate in a legal gray area that allows players in dozens of U.S. states to access casino games for real prizes without engaging in gambling in the traditional sense. This combination of entertainment, promotion, and potential winnings draws the kind of attention that traditional online gambling has failed to attract.
Sweepstakes casinos use a dual-currency system, allowing them to remain on the legal side of a very fine line. According to the VegasInsider guide, as of 2026, these platforms operate legally in 33 U.S. states, while only eight states have issued licenses for real-money online casinos.
Here’s how it works in practice:
According to Optimove, referenced by iGaming Business, only about 12% of players ever make purchases. However, those who do spent a total of $ 8.5 billion on gold coin packages in 2024. This is a huge amount of money flowing through a system that, legally speaking, is not considered gambling.
When the American Gaming Association conducted a survey of 2,250 players in June 2025, 90% of sweepstakes casino users stated that they consider this activity to be gambling. Sixty-eight percent said their primary reason for playing is the desire to win real money. The gap between the legal definition and real experience creates tension.
Advertising campaigns featuring celebrities in licensed gambling are strictly regulated. Sweepstakes casinos, being outside this system, provide stars with the opportunity to collaborate with casino-style brands without the burden of compliance that traditional operators face. As a result, it resembles a trendy collaboration rather than gambling sponsorship.
According to Gaming Today, Drake’s contract with Stake. us is worth about $ 100 million per year. He regularly appears in the platform’s promotional campaigns and live streams, engaging his audience in a gaming environment familiar to anyone who has seen him celebrate a roulette win on social media. Paris Hilton has taken a different approach with WOW Vegas, working through her company 11:11 Media as a brand ambassador. She promotes coin purchases, leads the platform’s VIP programs, and hosts «Paris Prize Draws» for her 26 million Instagram followers. Ryan Seacrest, in turn, has been the face of Chumba Casino since 2023, giving the platform one of the oldest reputations of its kind, comparable to that of «Wheel of Fortune».
Amouranth, a Twitch streamer with over six million followers, has also joined PlayFame as a brand ambassador, showing that the trend encompasses not only traditional stars but also the creator economy.
Regulators have begun to take notice. The Louisiana Senate held hearings on illegal gambling in early 2025, during which a presentation focused on celebrity advertising campaigns in sweepstakes casinos was reported by SweepsKings. Lawmakers argued that familiar faces like Hilton and Seacrest create a perception of legitimacy for platforms operating without standard gambling oversight. This criticism has not slowed the trend; rather, it highlights how firmly sweepstakes casinos have rooted themselves in the mainstream.
Despite all the excitement surrounding celebrities, the regulatory situation is tightening rapidly. Six U.S. states implemented explicit bans on sweepstakes casinos in 2025, according to legal analysis by WilmerHale. Montana was the first to take action in May, followed by California in October (with law AB 831 set to take effect in January 2026), New York in December, and then Connecticut, New Jersey, and Nevada during the same period
Sweepstakes casinos operate in a legal gray area that allows players in dozens of U.S. states to access casino games for real prizes without engaging in gambling in the traditional sense. This combination of entertainment, promotion, and potential winnings draws the kind of attention that traditional online gambling has failed to attract.
Sweepstakes casinos use a dual-currency system, allowing them to remain on the legal side of a very fine line. According to the VegasInsider guide, as of 2026, these platforms operate legally in 33 U.S. states, while only eight states have issued licenses for real-money online casinos.
Here’s how it works in practice:
According to Optimove, referenced by iGaming Business, only about 12% of players ever make purchases. However, those who do spent a total of $ 8.5 billion on gold coin packages in 2024. This is a huge amount of money flowing through a system that, legally speaking, is not considered gambling.
When the American Gaming Association conducted a survey of 2,250 players in June 2025, 90% of sweepstakes casino users stated that they consider this activity to be gambling. Sixty-eight percent said their primary reason for playing is the desire to win real money. The gap between the legal definition and real experience creates tension.
Advertising campaigns featuring celebrities in licensed gambling are strictly regulated. Sweepstakes casinos, being outside this system, provide stars with the opportunity to collaborate with casino-style brands without the burden of compliance that traditional operators face. As a result, it resembles a trendy collaboration rather than gambling sponsorship.
According to Gaming Today, Drake’s contract with Stake. us is worth about $ 100 million per year. He regularly appears in the platform’s promotional campaigns and live streams, engaging his audience in a gaming environment familiar to anyone who has seen him celebrate a roulette win on social media. Paris Hilton has taken a different approach with WOW Vegas, working through her company 11:11 Media as a brand ambassador. She promotes coin purchases, leads the platform’s VIP programs, and hosts «Paris Prize Draws» for her 26 million Instagram followers. Ryan Seacrest, in turn, has been the face of Chumba Casino since 2023, giving the platform one of the oldest reputations of its kind, comparable to that of «Wheel of Fortune».
Amouranth, a Twitch streamer with over six million followers, has also joined PlayFame as a brand ambassador, showing that the trend encompasses not only traditional stars but also the creator economy.
Regulators have begun to take notice. The Louisiana Senate held hearings on illegal gambling in early 2025, during which a presentation focused on celebrity advertising campaigns in sweepstakes casinos was reported by SweepsKings. Lawmakers argued that familiar faces like Hilton and Seacrest create a perception of legitimacy for platforms operating without standard gambling oversight. This criticism has not slowed the trend; rather, it highlights how firmly sweepstakes casinos have rooted themselves in the mainstream.
Despite all the excitement surrounding celebrities, the regulatory situation is tightening rapidly. Six U.S. states implemented explicit bans on sweepstakes casinos in 2025, according to legal analysis by WilmerHale. Montana was the first to take action in May, followed by California in October (with law AB 831 set to take effect in January 2026), New York in December, and then Connecticut, New Jersey, and Nevada during the same period
© Artemenko Olga
