How Increased Focus on Prediction Markets May Help or Hurt Sweeps Casinos

Gaming attorney Joshua Kirschner was featured in a Sweepsy article analyzing the regulatory attention gap between prediction markets and sweepstakes casinos. According to Google Trends, the past year saw 5.4 times more internet searches for "prediction markets" than for "sweepstakes casinos," a trend reflected at the state legislative level, where in 2026 lawmakers have introduced nearly 40 bills targeting prediction markets versus 12 bills focused on sweepstakes casinos. Mr. Kirschner, who serves as deputy team leader of Holland & Knight's Gaming Practice, commented that sweepstakes operators will continue to face challenges and potential bans but will no longer be the dominant debate in the gaming industry. He cautioned, however, that the shift in focus could prove a double-edged sword, as it could now be easier to enact bans or tighten regulations.

"I do not think that we will have another situation where sweepstakes are the focus of conversation, let's say, at a G2E or iGaming NEXT, any conference of your pick," he told Sweepsy. "...[But] maybe it could be actually easier to push [sweeps bans] along if there's less eyeballs on them...It could be it's easier to push through something in a budget, or you find a creative way to do it through a budget bill, that regulates sweeps or creates a new kind of tax revenue stream. Every state is different on this stuff, but it could go either way."

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