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Just weeks after the American Gaming Association (AGA) released a memo calling for tighter regulations on sweepstakes casinos, a group of sweepstakes and social casino operators announced the formation of the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA).
The group’s newly formed website notes the SPGA is meant to bring the industry together to foster compliance and advocate for its members. On its website, The Social & Promotional Gaming Association says: The SPGA presents a unified voice for the integrity and responsibility of its members’ offerings.
“By working together, the SPGA and its members aim to promote best practices, ensure compliance with regulations, and advocate for the interests of both our industry and the players who enjoy our games.”
Key takeaways
- Social and sweepstakes casino operators have formed an industry group called the Social & Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA).
- The SPGA is an attempt by operators to defend their industry just weeks after the American Gaming Association called for a crackdown on sweepstakes casinos.
- Sweepstakes casinos allow customers to earn credits they can redeem for cash or prizes.
SPGA focuses on educating members and doing industry PR
The launch of the SPGA sends a clear signal to the AGA: We saw your memo, and we’re ready for a fight. The group’s website says the SPGA is focused on two areas: support and advocacy.
“The SPGA provides valuable resources to its members, including legal guidance on regulatory developments and best practices for self-regulation,” the group’s website says.
“The SPGA also engages in public relations and advocacy efforts to ensure the industry’s perspective is understood by policymakers and the public.”
The group’s dual focus is a combination of defense and offense. Defense, in that it will provide support for operators waging legal and regulatory battles—offense, in that the SPGA will present the industry in its best light.
Essentially, the SPGA will do whatever it can to ensure sweepstakes casinos survive. The SPGA continues:
“Through these collective actions, the SPGA aims to foster a thriving, responsible social and promotional gaming environment that benefits both members and customers at large.”
The SPGA is made up of 11 members, according to a news post by Legal Sports Report:
- 10 Ten Gaming
- Blazesoft
- Fliff
- FSG Digital
- Gold coin Group
- High 5 Entertainment
- KHK Games
- Kickr Games
- Octacom
- Rolling Riches
- Woopla Gaming
AGA claims sweepstakes casinos are too similar to online casinos
The formation of the SPGA was likely necessary for the sweepstakes and social casino industry. The AGA is an influential group representing casino operators. Its members prefer zero competition, especially if that competition seems to be cutting corners.
The AGA contends that sweepstakes casinos incorrectly brand themselves as free-to-play platforms. From the sweepstakes side, its games are free. The grey area swirls around “sweeps coins.”
The coins are typically earned by purchasing free gameplay credits (gold coins). Players with enough sweeps coins can redeem them for cash or prizes.
So, while playing sweepstakes games is free, sweeps coins, the AGA argued, too closely resemble online casinos.
“Sweepstakes casinos claim that because they don’t require real money for their gameplay,
they are not offering gambling under the letter of the law,” the AGA said in its memo. “However, functionally, sweepstakes casinos look and play like an online casino while using a dual-currency system to avoid licensing and regulation.”
Sweepstakes casinos are notably different than real-money online casinos
Practically, accumulating sweeps coins is far different from dumping $50 into an online casino slots game.
For example, new customers of Rolling Riches sweepstakes casinos earn one sweepstakes coin for signing up. A player needs at least 100 sweeps coins to redeem them for prizes.
So, in theory, it could take more than three months of daily logins to get enough coins for a prize. Players can take their chances at boosting their balance by betting their sweepstakes coins, but the odds are against them.
Though the AGA’s attempt to equate sweepstakes casinos to real-money online casinos is weak, it made good points regarding safe gambling. Sweepstakes casinos aren’t held to the same responsible gaming requirements that real-money casinos are.
Additionally, they don’t offer a self-exclusion that allows gamblers to ban themselves from using the casino. Also, the AGA claimed that sweeps casinos have a “questionable” age verification process.
The AGA said in its memo: “There is no independent product testing to ensure basic fairness to players, and although many claim players must be 18+, age verification procedures if they exist, are often questionable. The opaque nature of these operations also presents a prime opportunity for illegal activity and enriching bad actors.”
It must be noted, however, that customers of Rolling Riches (and possibly other sweeps casinos) must provide a government-issued ID to redeem sweeps coins.
