VGW is again calling upon its California players to help block a bill that would ban sweepstakes casinos in the state.
This week, when California players log into their Chumba Casino account, they’re presented with a pop-up message that reads:
“Save The Games You Love! Last Chance to Protect Your Games, [player name]!! Lawmakers are still pushing AB831, but Californians are fighting back! If you haven’t signed the petition yet, your voice could be the one that makes the difference. Don’t wait, stand up for your games before it’s too late.”
VGW owns Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker.
Players directed to online petition
At the bottom of the pop-up window is a red SIGN NOW button that directs players to the online petition platform Quorum, where players can input their information and be presented with automated options to email, call, or tweet at their local representatives with messages urging them to oppose Assembly Bill 831, which would ban sweeps casinos in California.
This Quorum petition was established by the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance, which VGW is a part of, in July. That month, VGW sent an email to its California players directing them to the petition ahead of AB831’s first Senate committee hearing.
Now, following VGW’s second call to action, as of the morning of Aug. 27, there had been 32,633 “actions” taken — meaning calls, emails, or tweets. In previous committee hearings for AB831, sweeps proponents have cited the number of actions from this petition.
“Economic impact analysis reveals that the industry contributes over $1 billion annually to California’s economy and could generate hundreds of millions more with smart, modernized regulations,” the Quorum page reads, in part.
“On behalf of the California players who love online social games, we need to set the record straight. Instead of banning the fun, safe and always free to play games that Californians enjoy, we should modernize our laws to regulate and tax the industry, protecting consumers and generating tax revenue for schools, healthcare or infrastructure without raising taxes on California families.”
CA players receiving an email, too
In addition to the pop-up window greeting California players upon login, they are also receiving an email from Chumba Casino with similar information and a link to the Quorum petition.
“Thank you to everyone who spoke up – your voice is making a difference! But AB831 is still moving forward in Sacramento,” the email reads, in part, “and if you haven’t raised your voice yet, now’s the time!
“AB831 would ban the sweepstakes promotions you know and love on Chumba Casino. Instead of creating fair rules and protections, this bill takes away your freedom to play the games that millions of Californians enjoy safely and responsibly every day.”
Other operator following similar strategy
Golden Hearts Games has also asked its California players to help build momentum against AB831.
In early July, Golden Hearts Games emailed its California players a template for a letter or email they could send to their local representatives.
“I am writing to express my strong opposition to Assembly Bill No. 831,” the template began, “which seeks to outlaw sweepstakes games. As a California voter, I am deeply concerned about this bill and what it represents.”
Golden Hearts’ template went on to highlight the main reasons for opposition to AB831:
- Government overreach: Adults should have the freedom to choose the legal forms of online entertainment they want without the government getting involved.
- Entertainment value: Sweeps casinos provide fun, relaxation, and excitement, and banning them unfairly removes a harmless hobby for responsible players.
- Economic impact: Sweeps casinos create jobs and benefit the economy (a claim that a recent study from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming backs up), while a ban would drive players to unsafe black-market sites.
- Misplaced priorities: Lawmakers should focus on California’s real issues like crime, housing, and infrastructure instead of banning sweeps games.
Does the anti-AB831 coalition have momentum?
It’s hard to tell.
From a public relations standpoint, yes. But it’s difficult to know if PR buzz has any effect on actual, needle-moving discussions behind closed doors in the state legislature.
VGW is renewing this push to mobilize its California players right before Friday’s pivotal suspense hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where members will decide whether to keep the sweeps ban bill in the suspense file, effectively stomping out its chances, or pass it along to the Senate for a full vote.
Leading into Friday’s hearing, sweeps proponents can now say they have two California tribes publicly joining them in opposition to AB831 — the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation (northwest of Sacramento) and the Big Lagoon Rancheria (just above Eureka). That creates PR juice, as it’s a crack in the image of a unified tribal coalition that gaming tribes, like the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, rely on in part to garner bipartisan support.
It helps, too, that, following its Aug. 5 opposition letter to the Appropriations Committee regarding AB831, the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation inked an actual partnership with VGW. A press release announced the two parties were “partnering to operate free-to-play online social games platforms (including associated sweepstakes promotions) in California.”
(No word yet on whether the Big Lagoon Rancheria, which wrote an Aug. 25 letter to the Appropriations Committee voicing its opposition to AB831, will partner with a sweeps operator.)
Combine the (albeit minimal) tribal opposition with a recent study from the respected firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming that said a regulated sweeps gaming market could generate more than $1.3 billion of economic impact on California, as well as a government analysis that concluded AB831 could cause a “potential significant” financial burden on the state Department of Justice and the trial courts system … and, yes, you get a bit of momentum for sweeps stakeholders.
However, that’s all public-facing. We don’t know how much of an impact those factors have on the people actually responsible for the fate of this bill — the Appropriations Committee members. And if Friday’s suspense hearing is anything like AB831’s first two Senate committee hearings with Governmental Organization and Public Safety, this could be nothing but a formality as lawmakers simply give a stamp of approval and push AB831 along its fast-track trajectory.
If AB831 clears the suspense file and attains approval in a full Senate vote, it will then need to be re-approved in the Assembly because the current version is completely different from the old version that passed the Assembly in the spring.
The deadline for California’s 2025 legislative session is Sept. 12. But since the state operates on a two-year legislative cycle, missing that date doesn’t doom the bill. Lawmakers would be able to pick up AB831 again when the 2026 session begins in January.
