The Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA) and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) will be merging their efforts after the two bodies have identified further areas for collaboration under a single partnership.
Trade groups consolidate for stronger advocacy amid US sweepstakes legal challenges
As reported exclusively by Gambling Insider, an industry publication, the SPGA will cease to exist as an independent trade group and merge under the leadership of the SGLA. The groups confirmed this in a statement to the media outlet, with an SPGA spokesperson saying:
"The SPGA is consolidating its efforts with the SGLA. The category is best served by a clear and consistent voice from one group. We’re proud of what our members have accomplished and look forward to the continued leadership of the SGLA."
The two organizations have been trying to counteract sweeping changes in state laws across the United States, with lawmakers attempting to outlaw the entire sector. This has prompted a swift response and the formation of the groups, which have opposed views that they found fundamentally flawed, i.e., that sweepstakes are an illegal form of gambling, for example.
Both the SPGA and the SGLA have called for a dialogue with regulators that assess the realities and practicalities of the sweepstakes sector, instead of going for an outright ban. The SPGA’s efforts, resources, and members will rally under the SGLA banner, which is led by VGW, a prominent sweepstakes casino operator that has already faced stiff opposition in multiple jurisdictions across the country.
The reason for the merger could be the most recent passage of AB831 in California, which the trade groups might have interpreted as a failure to stop the regulation from getting sufficient debate. Indeed, legislators in the Golden State moved at a rapid clip and had already decided to try and outlaw sweepstakes without sufficient public or industry input.
Legal momentum against the sector is already picking up steam
Both the SPGA and SGLA have insisted vigorously that going after the sweepstakes sector and equating it to an unlawful activity would only harm the competitiveness of various sectors in the country, suffocating innovation, driving away investment, and killing jobs – not to mention denying millions of Americans the opportunity to play responsibly.
A far more sensible approach, the trade groups have repeatedly argued, would be to have a sit-down between sector leaders and lawmakers and devise a regulatory framework that adjusts the tax and sees the sector as a driver of additional revenue for state finances.
New Jersey and New York are also pushing against the sector, and the American Gaming Association has recently produced a survey in which it claims that the majority of people who gamble at sweepstakes casinos do so to win real money.
