Exclusive: SPGA to merge with SGLA
The Social and Promotional Gaming Association will end as a distinct body, following the success so far of the anti-sweepstakes bill in the California legislature.
Key points:
– The Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA) will cease to operate
– It will be consolidating its efforts under the banner of the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance
– The bill to ban sweepstakes in California will pass into law if Governor Newsom adds his signature
The Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA) will cease to exist as a distinct entity following the passing of Bill AB 831 in the California State Assembly.
Both it and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance have campaigned and lobbied vigorously in opposition to the bill that, if made law, would outlaw sweepstakes-style casinos in the state.
An SPGA spokesperson has exclusively told Gambling Insider: “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 SGLA was set up earlier in 2025 by VGW, an operator which itself has been scaling back its sweepstakes offerings in New Jersey and Canada in recent months.
It has been a legally tumultuous period for Californian sweepstakes providers, with this existential threat to their survival moving unchallenged through the state legislature and civil enforcement action being taken simultaneously against Stake’s sweepstake platform and a number of its suppliers.
While it will be the SGLA that lives on as the primary representative of sweepstake operators, the SPGA is in fact the more senior sector association, having been formed in 2024 to provide guidance, support and advocacy to member companies and the vertical as a whole.
Good to know: Victor Rocha, a vocal advocate of AB 831, recently characterised the SPGA and the SGLA as “the moron twins” in a post on X following the bill’s unanimous approval on the Senate floor
Of late, the SPGA has been active in its disapproval of the anti-sweepstakes bill, though the SGLA has been the more prominent voice of the movement.
Both bodies have backed the idea that a ban on sweepstakes would worsen the economic security of less fiscally resilient tribal communities and could strip $1bn from the state’s economy.
The bill is currently sitting on the desk of Governor Newsom, who retains the right to veto the bill at this juncture.
The consolidation of the SPGA into the SGLA perhaps does not indicate a great deal of confidence that he will do so.
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