STATE TRACKER · WI

Sweepstakes casinos in Wisconsin

Current status

No tracked explicit prohibition

We have found no state law that explicitly prohibits sweepstakes casinos here. That is an absence of a tracked prohibition, not an affirmative authorization.

Last review: June 11, 2026
Authority: Wis. Stat. § 945.01

There is no tracked prohibition here to act on. An operator's own terms still decide whether it will register you, and some exclude states that have taken no action at all, so read the terms we link on each review page. See the operators we track

Sweeps Coins (SC) redemption: No tracked prohibition
Gold Coin (GC) free play: Yes
Minimum age: 18+
Age floor source: Wis. Stat. § 990.01(3) (definition of 'Adult'); see § 990.01(20) ('Minor')

PRIMARY-SOURCE NOTE

Wisconsin's kiosk ruling says free play does not cure paid play; a website is untested

What the law does

Section 945.01(5) of the Wisconsin Statutes defines a lottery as an enterprise in which, for a consideration, participants get a chance to win a prize awarded by chance, and it defines consideration as anything that is a commercial or financial advantage to the promoter or a disadvantage to a participant¹. The same subsection lists acts that are not consideration in any sweepstakes or other promotion, among them filling out a coupon or entry form received by mail or printed in a newspaper or magazine when no purchase is required¹. Section 945.01(3) defines a gambling machine separately, as a contrivance that for a consideration gives the player a chance at something of value, and it carries none of those exceptions¹. Under section 945.03(1m)(e), intentionally setting up a gambling machine for gambling or collecting its proceeds is commercial gambling, a Class I felony, apart from forfeitures for up to five video gambling machines on certain alcohol-licensed premises².

What has happened since

After the Attorney General opined that Quick Charge's cash-prize kiosks in convenience stores and gas stations were illegal gambling machines, law enforcement seized several of them³. On June 12, 2020, the Supreme Court held unanimously that the kiosks were gambling machines under section 945.01(3), that the in-pack promotion exception written into the lottery definition does not carry over, and that free play options, one of them by mail, did not remove consideration while customers could still pay to play³. The court noted that neither free method had ever been used³. The newest change to section 945.01 is 2025 Wisconsin Act 247, approved on April 9, 2026, which took mobile sports wagers run on servers on tribal lands under a compact out of the definition of a bet⁴⁵. Our records for Wisconsin hold no tracked event, no exit and no active brand that excludes it; all 121 active brands we track are recorded as taking its players.

What is still open

The court described the kiosks as contrivances, in its words mechanical devices, and Quick Charge did not contest that element³. Whether a website or phone app that sells Gold Coins bundled with Sweeps Coins redeemable for cash is a contrivance under section 945.01(3) is a question no Wisconsin court ruling or agency action in our record answers¹³. If it is not, the bet definition in section 945.01(1) and the lottery definition in section 945.01(5) remain, and our record holds no reading of either that addresses a mail-in request for Sweeps Coins¹. The Legislature's 2025 subject index lists, under gambling, the Act 247 bills and bingo and raffle fee changes, and no sweepstakes bill⁶.

Enforcement search: Our record for Wisconsin holds no enforcement action against an online sweepstakes casino. The closest action we found is the Attorney General's opinion that Quick Charge's cash-prize kiosks were illegal gambling machines, the seizure of several kiosks, and the 2020 Supreme Court ruling that upheld that reading³.
Question still open: Whether a website or app that sells Gold Coins with redeemable Sweeps Coins is a contrivance under section 945.01(3), which would put it under the gambling machine definition and outside the no-purchase exceptions written for lotteries¹.

Sources for this note

Wisconsin Statutes section 945.01, definitions (Wisconsin State Legislature) accessed Sep 28, 2026
Wisconsin Statutes section 945.03, commercial gambling (Wisconsin State Legislature) accessed Sep 28, 2026
Quick Charge Kiosk LLC v. Kaul, 2020 WI 54 (Supreme Court of Wisconsin opinion) accessed Sep 28, 2026
2025 Wisconsin Act 247 (Wisconsin State Legislature) accessed Sep 28, 2026
2025 Assembly Bill 601 history (Wisconsin State Legislature) accessed Sep 28, 2026
2025 Subject Index to Legislation, Gambling (Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau) accessed Sep 28, 2026

Sources rechecked 2026-09-28. Next scheduled review 2026-12-28.

What the law says

Making a bet or conducting a lottery is a Class B misdemeanor (§ 945.02). Operator-side commercial gambling: including operating a gambling place for gain, or conducting a lottery where both the consideration and the prize are money: is a Class I felony (§ 945.03(1m)). Wisconsin also bars Class III gaming outside tribal compacts under its constitution (art. IV, § 24).

Operators and Wisconsin

121 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as accepting Wisconsin players, and 13 of those are rated trusted.

No operator we track is recorded as excluding Wisconsin players.

Highest Trust Scores among the operators recorded as accepting Wisconsin:

See the full list on the leaderboard filtered to Wisconsin →

How this classification was reached

Show the record, the citation and the method

What the Wisconsin classification rests on

Source date: Not recorded
Last human review: June 11, 2026
Effective date: Not recorded
Basis of classification: statutory

How to read these rows

Where the operator counts come from

Of the 121 acceptance records, 38 cite the operator's own terms or rules, 10 come from a backfill of the operator's terms, 1 comes from the operator's site configuration, 13 are inferred because the terms do not list Wisconsin, 56 come from our bulk backfill without a terms citation and 3 reflect site availability with no observed Sweeps Coins program.

Citation as stored

Wis. Stat. § 945.01(1), (5) (bet; lottery; consideration incl. sweepstakes exclusions); § 945.02 (gambling); § 945.03 (commercial gambling); see also Wis. Stat. § 100.16 (chance promotions).

Primary sources on file

Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 945: Gambling Wisconsin State Legislature (docs.legis.wisconsin.gov) · accessed Jun 10, 2026

Method

Methodology · Corrections · Changelog · How to read a state page

Wisconsin questions

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Wisconsin?

We have found no state law that explicitly prohibits sweepstakes casinos here. That is an absence of a tracked prohibition, not an affirmative authorization. Authority: Wis. Stat. § 945.01.

Did Wisconsin's Supreme Court treat a free mail-in route as removing consideration?

Not for a gambling machine. In Quick Charge Kiosk LLC v. Kaul, decided June 12, 2020, the court held that store kiosks with a free play route by mail were still gambling machines under section 945.01(3), because customers could also pay to play for a cash prize. The case was about physical kiosks, not a website or phone app.

Which operators accept Wisconsin players?

121 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as accepting Wisconsin players, and 13 of those are rated trusted. No operator we track is recorded as excluding Wisconsin players. The leaderboard filtered to Wisconsin lists every one. Leaderboard filtered to Wisconsin →

This page is information, not legal advice. Laws and thresholds change quickly, so confirm with the operator and your state attorney general before depositing, or consult a lawyer. Last verified June 11, 2026. Send a correction.