A California tribal nation that VGW announced as a new partner gave in-person opposition to a sweepstakes casino ban bill.
Eric Wright, CEO of the Kletsel Economic Development Authority, spoke against AB 831 at a mid-afternoon Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Monday. The bill was eventually referred to the Suspense file.
KEDA is the economic development arm of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation. Australia-based social gaming operator VGW announced the sweepstakes casino partnership with the tribe of 297 enrolled citizens in a release dated Tuesday.
Joining Wright in opposition were representatives from VGW, VGW’s California employees, ARB Interactive and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance. The alliance was co-founded by a group of operators including VGW and ARB.
Ban bill ‘lacks unanimous support’
Wright sent a letter dated Aug. 7 to committee Chairwoman Anna Caballero and read the majority of it into the record at Monday’s meeting.
“This bill lacks unanimous support among California tribes, has advanced without meaningful consultation with many of us, and threatens our inherent right to create legitimate revenue streams to support our people,” Wright said. “For tribes like ours—far from high‑traffic tourism corridors—geography has always limited traditional economic development.
“Large, well‑established gaming tribes already benefit from these geographic advantages and decades of success. It is self‑serving for them to advocate for policies that restrict emerging digital commerce opportunities for others, effectively holding smaller and less‑advantaged tribes’ hostage to their location.
“Digital platforms offer one of the few viable ways for geographically isolated tribes to fund essential services: healthcare, education, housing, food security, and social programs. The need is urgent.”
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association, which represents more than 50 gaming tribes, supports the ban on sweepstakes casinos.
Sweepstakes casino group: tax it
Shane LaVigne of LaVigne Strategies represented the SGLA at the hearing.
He noted nearly 1,200 jobs would be lost if AB 831 was passed. Sweepstakes casinos are “enjoyed by millions of Californians” and bring more than $1 billion in annual economic benefit to California, he added.
“Instead of a prohibition of online sweepstakes, we should instead regulate and tax it, which could generate between $200 [million] to $300 million dollars a year in new revenue to the state of California, funding schools, healthcare and infrastructure without raising taxes on families at a time when the state of California could desperately use new funding streams, all while ensuring consumer protections are in place to create a safe gaming environment,” LaVigne said.
LaVigne’s statistics came from a report on California’s sweepstakes casino industry by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. The report estimates what is paid to California-based companies annually by sweepstakes operators:
- $731.9 million annually in marketing costs.
- $35.8 million annually in processing fees.
- $34.2 million annually in hosting fees.
Another estimated $208 million is paid in salaries that support the sweepstakes casino industry.
