VGW remains confident in its California sweepstakes offering despite another supplier pulling out of the state.
Playtech told SBC Americas that after assessing its position in the jurisdiction, it is “not supplying social gaming operators on sweepstakes in California at this time”.
Although Playtech was not included, this decision follows the office of Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto bringing a case against the sweepstakes operator Stake.us and a group of suppliers, including Pragmatic Play, Evolution and Hacksaw Gaming.
Both Evolution and Hacksaw have removed their content from Stake.us after the suit was filed. Meanwhile, Pragmatic Play went one step further and ended its supply of all of its games to the sweepstakes market across the US.
Despite these exits, and VGW also being dragged into its own legal battle in the Northern California District Court, the operator of brands such as Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots has backed its content offering for players in California.
The company said: “We understand these players may be disappointed and apologise for any inconvenience or frustration caused.
“However, we are not reliant on third party games suppliers and our brands still offer a vast library of world-class free-to-play games, many of which are created by our amazing in-house games studios that provide our players with leading, exclusive content.
“We cannot speak to the decisions of third party games providers but from time to time, licensing arrangements with games suppliers evolve for a variety of reasons and we continue to have a positive relationship with Playtech.”
VGW has long acknowledged the regulatory concerns facing the US sweepstakes sector, however, it has doubled down on its focus on the country in recent weeks.
At the end of August, the operator confirmed its exit from Canada, informing Canadian players that they will no longer be able to access their accounts as of 23 October.
VGW explained that it took the “difficult but strategic, isolated decision” based on the size of its audience across North America.
“Our Canadian business is relatively small, as the vast majority of our players reside in the larger US market, where we will concentrate our management focus, resources and investment going forward,” they outlined.
Unlike the US, sweepstakes are deemed to be non-real-money gaming in Canada and permitted nationwide without regulatory oversight.
However, this decision underscores the value of the US market for VGW, as it has chosen to devote its North American resources towards fighting against the significant regulatory headwinds in the US.
States such as New Jersey, Montana and Connecticut have already passed legislation banning online sweepstakes gaming.
Meanwhile, regulators have targeted operators like VGW through cease-and-desist orders, leading to VGW halting its operations in a number of states, including New York, Connecticut and Delaware.
In California, lawmakers are currently considering AB 831 which seeks to criminalise sweepstakes gaming, and has support from the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, other major gaming tribes, and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA).
September 15 will see SBC organise a groundbreaking charity football event in Lisbon. Make sure you get the chance to see some of the most legendary names in football by securing your ticket today at https://www.legendscharitygame.com/
