There is no single federal sweepstakes licence. Availability comes from the interaction of state promotions law, state gambling law, and each operator own appetite for risk. That last part matters more than most guides admit: two operators can read the same statute and reach opposite conclusions, and one will accept players in a state while its competitor refuses. This desk therefore publishes what each operator accepted at the time of testing rather than a legal verdict of its own.

The pattern across eighteen operators

• Accepted almost everywhere. The large majority of states were open at every operator we funded, with an eighteen or twenty-one age minimum depending on the site and the state.
• Consistently excluded. A small group of states was blocked by every operator in the study. Washington and Idaho were the most consistent exclusions, and Michigan and Nevada were excluded by most.
• Mixed. Several states were accepted by some operators and refused by others, which signals differing legal advice rather than a settled position. This group changes most often.
• Recently changed. More than one operator withdrew from a state during our testing window. A site that accepted you last season may not now.

How to check properly, in two minutes

Open the operator terms and search for the words excluded, prohibited or ineligible. That list governs your account, not any summary on a review site, including this one. Then confirm the minimum age for your state, because eighteen is common but twenty-one applies in several. Finally, note that eligibility follows where you are physically located rather than where you live, so travel can change your status.

Verification and location checks

Every operator in the ledger verified identity before redemption and checked location at both signup and withdrawal. Masking your location breaches the terms at all eighteen, and the usual outcome is a frozen balance, which is a poor trade on a free account.