Sweepstakes casinos have gone from relatively unknown to huge gaming platforms over the past few years.
Celebrity brand deals and endorsements helped skyrocket these sites, but many of the pop culture figures involved in them may now be regretting their choices following the recent rise in lawsuits.
Rapper Drake, who’s part of an incredible $100 million-a-year ‘Drake x Stake’ deal, Adin Ross, and others have all recently been named in lawsuits as the nationwide crackdown on sweepstakes casinos continues.
Both Drake and Adin Ross have just been named in yet another federal class-action lawsuit for the third time in the space of a year.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s Alexandria Division on Dec. 31, alleges LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines lost money gambling on Stake.us after being influenced by Drake and Ross’s paid promotions of the platform.
The lawsuit also claims that online casino money from Stake.us was used to pay for automated streams across music streaming platforms and boost the rapper’s royalties.
The two women are seeking up to $5 million in damages, with Drake or Adin Ross failing to publicly respond yet.
A spokesman for the global e-casino brand Stake said: “This is a nonsense claim, and we are not concerned about this lawsuit.”
It’s not the first time Drake or Adin Ross have been named in a Stake-related lawsuit, either, with the pair also being hit with two additional lawsuits back in 2025.
The first was filed by Justin Killham out of Missouri, claiming financial losses and that Stake.us is an illegal online casino operating as a social casino.
Then there was the New Mexico lawsuit, again filed by a player seeking compensation for financial losses after feeling misled by Drake and Adin Ross’s marketing associations with the Stake brand.
The common theme is that plaintiffs across all these lawsuits claim Drake and Adin Ross promote the Stake.us sweepstakes casino in a deceptive way, leading to players losing money by purchasing and betting virtual tokens on the site.
Users on Stake.us can play using Sweeps Coins or Gold Coins, with 1 Sweeps Coin convertible to $1.
It’s then possible to redeem any Sweeps Coins you win for actual prizes, such as gift cards or cash transfers.
What happens to some players is that they exchange their own money for these tokens and then lose them in-game, causing financial damages.
However, so far at least, none of these ongoing lawsuits have been concluded and neither Drake nor Adin Ross have been criminally charged.
Ryan Seacrest Also Named in Chumba Casino Lawsuit
The popular American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has also been named in a recent lawsuit following his association with Chumba Casino.
A California woman is suing the company behind Chumba Casino and spokesperson Seacrest, claiming she lost money off the back of the presenter’s influence.
Seacrest’s smiling face has regularly featured in promotional ads for the Chumba brand since 2023, no doubt influencing many different players to sign up.
The lawsuit itself is still ongoing, though, with Chumba saying in a statement that the “lawsuit has no merit” and has “unfairly targeted” the American Idol host as part of the suit.
High 5 Casino Had to Pay Out $25m in Damages in 2025
It was only a year ago when a Washington state jury ordered High 5 Casino to pay out $25 million in damages to players following a landmark ruling.
The lawsuit found that High 5’s social casino games were illegal under Washington law.
It’s the biggest sweepstakes casino lawsuit payout to date and has since triggered an onslaught of similar lawsuits since then, although none have yet to reach anywhere close to the $25 million mark.
More States Issue Sweepstakes Casino Bans, Including New York and California
After explosive growth from the COVID-19 pandemic up until around 2024, sweepstakes casinos have since been embroiled in controversy.
The sweepstakes casino industry itself is still worth around $4 billion and continues to enjoy thriving US and Canadian markets, but legal problems continue piling up.
Outside of lawsuits filed by angry players, sweepstakes casinos have also had to fight a growing number of anti-sweepstakes casino bills passed by US states.
California, Washington, Montana, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, and Louisiana have also successfully banned this new type of casino, with Indiana currently pushing to do the same.
It’s harming operators and causing player counts to drop, which is why the Social Gaming Alliance, represented by several of the big sweepstakes casino operators, is currently pleading with Indiana to pledge a deal that would allow these casinos to keep operating in the state.
And if more states do indeed ban sweepstakes casinos throughout 2026 and beyond, it would certainly signal the end of the ‘sweepstakes’ party.
What Recent Sweepstakes Lawsuits Mean for Influencers
Recent player-filed lawsuits and state-issued bans have caused serious damage to the sweepstakes casino industry.
Undoubtedly, it’s going to have a huge impact on influencer brand deals moving forward, as many celebrities will now think twice before associating their names with casino brands that could land them in legal trouble.
Drake and Adin Ross show no sign of terminating their existing deals with Stake.us, though, with the popular sweepstakes brand reportedly paying Drake upwards of $100 million a year to promote Stake on social media and through online advertisements.
