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State of Play’s TL;DR
- Florida is widening its illegal gambling crackdown beyond storefront operators and toward the payment rails that help offshore sites reach players.
- Regulators are also signaling they may not stop at the websites themselves.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the state is increasing efforts to crack down on illegal gambling. He announced the move during a press conference in Naples on the results of Operation Sunset Stakes, a multi-agency investigation in Southwest Florida.
While the operation focused on local illegal gambling businesses, the state also said it sent cease-and-desist letters to major payment processors and named several offshore gambling sites not authorized to operate in Florida.
Letters sent to top credit card companies
Uthmeier said cease-and-desist letters were sent to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express as part of Florida’s expanded enforcement effort. He also identified Bovada, BetOnline, BetUS, and BetNow as offshore websites not authorized to operate in the state.
“If you’re a payment processor and you’re helping one of those sites, you are breaking the law. Cease and desist immediately, or we will take any law enforcement action necessary to hold you accountable.”
The broader Southwest Florida operation produced nearly $300,000 in seized cash, 479 confiscated gambling machines across Lee and Collier counties, and six arrests, according to officials.
Authorities also said the investigation uncovered alleged links between illegal gambling operations and money laundering, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
A new strategy
For players, the message is straightforward: Florida is trying to make illegal gambling harder to access by targeting both operators and the companies that move money. That matters beyond one state because payment processing is a key pressure point for offshore gambling sites that serve US customers.
For operators, the warning is even clearer. Florida officials are not framing this as a one-off raid but as a broader enforcement strategy, said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.
“Today’s operation sends a clear message: Illegal gambling operations will not be tolerated in southwest Florida.”
The state also used the announcement to point consumers toward legal options. Uthmeier said Floridians who want to gamble legally should use Seminole Tribe facilities and the Hard Rock Bet mobile application.
Meanwhile, Florida Gaming Control Commission Chair Julie Brown said the commission has seized more than 10,000 illegal slot machines since expanding enforcement efforts, including more than 3,100 in 2026 alone.
Based on reporting by Kennedy Owens for Florida’s Voice.
