The Current: Publishers Clearing House = A Sweepstakes Casino?

Gambling news roundup: MMA fighter allegedly bet with inside information; Robinhood faces investigation over college betting; New York regulator again talks about 'concern' over sweepstakes.

Mar 25, 2025

Publishers Clearing House is apparently getting into the sweepstakes gaming business in a more serious way.

That could be great for the industry. Or it could be a disaster. More on that in a bit, but here’s the news:

SCCG Management, a global leader in gaming advisory and business development, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Publishers Clearing House (PCH) to explore new social gaming monetization opportunities. This collaboration will leverage PCH’s extensive zero- and first-party consumer database and SCCG’s deep expertise in gaming to drive engagement and revenue growth across social gaming operators. …
Through this partnership, SCCG will provide advisory and business development services, focusing on monetizing PCH’s massive player base by connecting them with innovative social and sweepstakes gaming operators. By optimizing first-party data and analytics, SCCG and PCH will create new pathways for engagement and revenue generation in the growing social gaming space.

The announcement is a little vague on exactly what we’re going to see from PCH through this deal. It seems destined to push the brand further into the realm of sweepstakes casinos that is populated by more than a hundred operators.

PCH already operates a bunch of gaming-type apps, including slots, but it’s clear that it’s not realizing the full opportunity that the sweepstakes casino model has unlocked. That’s likely where SCCG comes in.

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So is this news good or bad for the sweepstakes industry in the current environment? I could spin this either way:

Good: Literally the biggest brand in sweepstakes getting involved brings legitimacy to the vertical. I am pretty sure PCH has an amazing Q Score. And does anyone have a negative opinion of the brand (other than people getting scammed by people pretending to be PCH)? They give people giant checks!
Bad: Literally the biggest brand in sweepstakes getting involved brings more attention to a vertical that’s under fire. While it feels like a lot of people know what sweepstakes casinos are and what they do, that’s not the case in reality. The industry arguably needs less press, not more.

Either way, it’s kind of crazy PCH didn’t get into all of this in a more serious way until now.

Before the main roundup, some other sweepstakes developments:

Crackdown coming in New York?: Brian O’Dwyer, the chairman of the New York State Gaming Commission, again addressed sweepstakes casinos during a meeting on Monday:
- “I am concerned by the rise in the so-called sweepstakes casinos, wherein it may appear that online prizes are being offered for free when they are not. The commission is addressing this issue with the help of other agencies. Further announcements on this will be coming in the near future and I expect to have further announcements by our April meeting as to what actions the commission and the state will be taking.”
- The full meeting can be seen here; the comment comes just before the 15-minute mark.
- O’Dwyer made similar remarks in a January meeting.
Connecticut Senate Committee Approves Bill that Would Ban Sweepstakes Gaming (Covers): “A bill banning sweepstakes gaming operators in Connecticut is gaining steam. The Connecticut Senate’s General Law Committee unanimously passed SB 1235 by a vote of 22-0 on Monday. The bill was filed with the Legislation Commissioner's Office following a joint favorable substitute action. …Among other stipulations, SB 1235 calls for a prohibition on lottery ticket resales and ticket courier services and redefines many gaming terms.”

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Officials: MMA fighter bet on 2022 UFC bout with inside info (ESPN): “MMA fighter Jeff Molina used inside information to bet on a November 2022 UFC bout that was flagged for unusual wagering activity, Nevada Athletic Commission officials said during a hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas. Molina, who was with the UFC at the time, had direct knowledge of an undisclosed injury of a fellow fighter and placed ‘significant bets’ on the outcome of a Nov. 6, 2022, fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, according to Nevada deputy attorney general Matthew Feeley.”
Massachusetts regulators probe Robinhood over March Madness basketball betting (Reuters): “Massachusetts' top securities regulator has begun an investigation into trading platform Robinhood's decision to launch a prediction-markets hub that allows users to bet on the outcomes of a range of events, including March Madness college basketball tournaments. Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin, in an interview with Reuters on Monday, said he was concerned that Robinhood was ‘linking a gambling event on a popular sports event that's especially popular to young people to a brokerage account.’ ‘This is just another gimmick from a company that's very good at gimmicks to lure investors away from sound investing,’ said Galvin, a Democrat known as one of the country's most aggressive state-level securities regulators.”
- Kalshi and Robinhood surely knew more pushback would be coming as they partnered to expand college basketball betting to all 50 states in the past week. How much pushback they will get and where it will manifest remains to be seen. But a new avenue outside of gaming laws and regulators opened up in Massachusetts, at least.
- We’re still waiting to hear what, if anything, will come from a cease-and-desist Nevada regulators issued to Kalshi more than two weeks ago.
Cardinals announce marketing partnership with bet365 (Major League Baseball): “The St. Louis Cardinals and bet365 announced today that they have entered into a multi-year marketing partnership that makes the leading sports betting brand the first-ever Official Mobile Sports Betting Partner of the St. Louis Cardinals. The new sponsorship agreement includes advertising rights on the Cardinals radio broadcasts, Cardinals Insider TV show, cardinals.com, and signage at the ballpark that will be visible on television broadcasts, along with the use of the team logo and sponsorship of the team’s starting lineups at Busch Stadium. As part of the new agreement, bet365 will also receive naming rights to the all-inclusive bet365 Bridge located on the second level in right-centerfield.”
- If you needed further evidence that bet365 is making a concerted push to take market share in US sports betting, here you go. While the international giant often sat out big (read: expensive) marketing efforts in the early days of sports betting expansion, it’s now getting licensed in more states and signing deals that indicate a more intensive approach to growing their business here.
Gambling Is No Longer Investing’s Evil Twin (Bloomberg, paywall): “Allowing betting-for-entertainment gambling in a brokerage entity regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission doesn’t make much sense though. Those regulators are concerned with capital formation and keeping markets efficient, neither of which apply to prediction markets or sports betting. While the two agencies are also tasked with investor protection, that means something different in gambling than in financial trading. … Of course, the problem is that different people can use the same markets differently. People can day trade for entertainment with no economic purpose, while others can use prediction markets seriously. Rather than insisting that prediction markets are either all gambling or all trading, regulation should focus on what customers are doing.”
Michigan Gaming Control Board takes action against 10 illegal offshore operators (MGCB): “The following unlicensed operators received cease-and-desist letters from the MGCB for illegally offering a variety of casino-style games to Michigan residents:
• Aladdin’s Gold Casino
• All Star Slots
• Buzz Luck
• Club World Casinos
• CryptoReels
• High Noon
• Lucky Red Casino
• Manhattan Slots Casino
• ReelSpin Casino
• Slotter Casino
- If you’re still offering unlicensed gaming in Michigan, you may want to stop given the number of letters emanating from the state regulator.
'I want my money back': How Texas could recover cash from $95 million stacked-odds Lotto game (Houston Chronicle, paywall): “Yet there is still one piece of unfinished business, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson said during a recent hearing in Austin. The Houston Democrat revealed she had bought tickets for the controversial 2023 Lotto game. ‘I lost money,’ she said. ‘And I want my money back.’ That anyone might expect repayment or compensation from a lottery game could seem like a pipe dream. Yet some are starting to discuss legal strategies to reimburse those who lost money — both players and the State of Texas — in a government-sponsored game of chance where the outcome was anything but random.”
- I know couriers are hoping to find a way back into (or to stay in) Texas, but the continuing animus around everything to do with the state lottery seems to make that almost an impossibility.
Alaska Lawmakers Introduce Online Sports Betting Bill (Sports Betting Dime): “Rep. Davis Nelson (R-18) recently introduced HB 145, a bill to legalize Alaska online sports betting. The legislation will allow for up to 10 sports betting licenses to be distributed to operators.”
EDGE Boost Unveils Industry-First Responsible Gaming Bank Account, Announces $17M round (press release): “EDGE Boost, the first banking-as-a-service solution designed to promote responsible gaming in the U.S., announced its official launch today, with an established and quickly growing customer base and a $17.2 million seed funding round. The EDGE Boost debit card, which has been live in stealth mode for three months, has already processed $300 million in transactions and is reshaping how bettors manage their finances in the gaming ecosystem. … EDGE Boost redefines responsible gaming with a dedicated debit card and bank account, allowing bettors to separate their gaming transactions from everyday finances.”