Sweeptastic, one of the smaller sweepstakes casino operators, has announced that it is closing up shop after less than two years in the business. Visitors to the site are now greeted by a message top and center, announcing that it will shut down on May 1, 2025.
Sweeptastic launched in mid-2023, just as the sweeps trend was gathering steam. Although some of the best-known sweepstakes casino brands like Chumba have been around for over a decade, the last few years have seen an increasing number of newcomers. That’s largely because the wave of real-money online casino expansion that was expected to follow the sports betting boom never manifested.
Michigan was the last big state to legalize online casinos in 2021. Although Rhode Island and Connecticut followed, other significant markets like Indiana, Illiniois, Maryland and New York have all seen their efforts sputter out. Social casinos like Sweeptastic moved in to fill the void by using federal sweepstakes law as a way to offer real-money prizes with play-money games.
States were slow to react to the new business model, but 2025 has been the year that the inevitable pushback has manifested. Despite the best efforts of the Social and Promotional Games Association, numerous states have begun banishing sweeps operators, whether through regulatory action or bills formally banning the business model.
Sweeptastic has not provided a reason for its shutdown. However, the sweeps market has become highly competitive due to the glut of new operators, and the addressable population is now shrinking as a result of the crackdown. The expansion of legal sports betting across the US also saw the appearance of many new operators from 2018 to 2020, many of which likewise went out of business a couple of years later once the metaphorical gold rush was over.
Sweeptastic users must redeem sweeps by April 30
Our reviewers had one significant complaint about Sweeptastic, which is its 5x playthrough requirement on all Sweeps Coins before they can be redeemed. Many sites only require users to play their Sweeps once before redeeming any Sweeps earned from the games.
That’s now more of a factor, as users are now faced with a time limit to play with or redeem their Sweeps before the site shuts down. The shutdown message warns users that all Coins will expire April 30. That includes the play-money Lucky Coins as well as Sweeps.
Note that, because Sweeps officially have no cash value for legal reasons, there will be no way to reclaim any Sweeps lost this way. When real money casinos shut down, any unclaimed balances still belong to the players and have to be returned to them, usually as paper checks in the mail. However, Sweeps aren’t money, so you have to use them or lose them.
In the meantime, Sweeptastic has disabled purchases and won’t be processing any mail-in requests for Sweeps.
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