ACE Casino Returns to Four States as Sweepstakes Industry Adapts to California Ban

ACE Casino reopened in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Maryland between spring and late September. The company removed all four states from its exclusion list as California moves forward with a sweepstakes casino ban taking effect January 1, 2026.

Other platforms made similar moves. Baba Casino and Spree Casino also reentered states they’d previously left. The pattern shows how operators are shifting after California’s Assembly Bill 831 passed.

California accounts for nearly 20% of the U.S. sweepstakes casino market. The ban will hit revenue hard across the industry. Operators are looking at other states to make up the difference.

The four states ACE Casino picked have about 29.9 million people combined. That’s a decent-sized market, though it doesn’t come close to replacing California. Players in these states are getting more options again. They’re also paying closer attention to how they move money in and out of casino accounts. Fast deposits matter. So do quick withdrawals that don’t require handing over too much personal banking information. These features are important to players as well as several others on Card Player’s PayID banking tips, which help users find ways to keep transactions moving without exposing account details. This is something players care about more as sweepstakes platforms multiply.

Georgia currently is promising to operators. In 2024, the Court issued a lawsuit against VGW, which was dismissed by the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Georgia. The court indicated that VGW lacked sufficient local connection to claim jurisdiction. That decision seems to have given other platforms confidence to restart operations there.

Tennessee is trickier. The state’s Sports Wagering Council pushed out Sportzino, Legendz Casino, and Bovada before. But class action suits against sweepstakes operators haven’t gotten far lately. ACE Casino hasn’t faced new enforcement actions since coming back.

Alabama has strict anti-gambling laws. More than a dozen class actions against sweepstakes operators are active there. Most cases are moving slowly because of arbitration clauses in user agreements. Research from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming shows the U.S. market will drop from $4.6 billion in 2025 to around $3.6 billion in 2026 after California exits. Operators calculated the risk in Alabama and decided to go back anyway.

Maryland hasn’t taken aggressive enforcement action against sweepstakes platforms. The regulation in that area is still evolving, yet the operators feel safe enough to operate their sites.

The sweepstakes industry expanded by over 4 billion by the year 2024 compared to 3.1 billion in 2022. Player participation rose by more than 30% year-over-year, with the global social casino market projected to exceed $7 billion by the end of 2024. The business model works under promotional gaming laws instead of traditional gambling regulations. That lets platforms operate in states where regulated online gambling is still banned.

KPMG analysts report the sweepstakes casino market grew at a 60-70% compound annual growth rate from 2020 through 2024. Growth projections are now being revised as California prepares to exit.

ACE Casino’s moves show how the industry is adjusting. Operators are spreading out across multiple smaller states instead of relying on a few big markets. That approach might work better long-term as more states start examining sweepstakes casinos more closely.