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NJ Governor Signs Sweeps Casino Ban, MI Cease-and-Desists & Modo Owns PCH

We have more huge news in the US sweepstakes casino industry, including New Jersey's Governor signing a ban into law, more cease-and-desist letters from Michigan, plus the surprise ownership of Publisher's Clearing House.

Steve Lapinski
Steve Lapinski

Last updated: 2025-08-15

Chad Nagel

7 minutes read

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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) has signed the state assembly's sweepstakes casino ban into law. (Getty Images)

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Sweeps Casino Ban

In a move that surprised almost nobody due to the overwhelming support in the state assembly, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) signed the state's sweepstakes ban into law on Friday, August 15th.

Bills A5447 and S4282 prohibit sweepstakes casinos from doing business in the State of New Jersey, plus the bills establish new penalties for gambling operations that run afoul of state statutes.

Enforcement of the new law has been delegated to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Ahead of the expected bill signing, many online sweepstakes casino operators saw the writing on the wall and made plans to pull out of the state, including the largest player in the industry, VGW, owners of Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots, and Global Poker.

There was little doubt that the measure would become law in New Jersey, as the state was one of only three states to allow brick-and-mortar casinos in the United States for a long time, together with Nevada and Mississippi.

In recent years, New Jersey has come into stiff competition for their land-based casino business from casinos in eastern Pennsylvania and in the New York City area. Furthermore, New Jersey does have legal, regulated online casino gaming, and their actions to offer protections to that industry comes as no surprise.

Michigan Regulatory Agency Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters

The sad sweepstakes casino industry news out of New Jersey wasn't the only Debbie Downer news in online gaming on Friday, as there is more news out of Michigan.

Today, August 15th, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) sent cease-and-desist letters to fifteen sites that are alleged illegal gambling operations doing business in the state. Michigan state law only allows casino and sports gaming from companies that are licensed through the MGCB.

The fifteen sites cited by the MGCB are 7 Bit Casino, Avia Games Inc., Grande Vegas Casino, High Country Casino, iNet Bet, Liberty Slots Casino, Lincoln Casino, Lucky Hippo Casino, Miami Club Casnio, PrimaPlay Casino, Slot Madness, Slots Plus Casino, Sun Palace Casino, Vegas Casino Online, and Vegas2Web Casino.

All fifteen online casinos have been ordered to end any business that includes players from the state of Michigan. Failure to comply could lead to enforcement actions through the office of the Attorney General of Michigan.

For the most part, sweepstakes casinos already avoid the state, as it is one of the more hostile states to social and sweeps casinos, but there are quite a few non-sweepstakes online casinos that have been giving the proverbial "finger" to the state's laws.

The Surprise New Owner of Publisher's Clearing House

This one blew my mind. As someone who grew up watching the "prize patrol" presenting giant checks while surprising people at their doorsteps, I am shocked at how times have changed.

Just as recently as 2018, Publisher's Clearing House (PCH) generated nearly $900 million from their catalogs, magazine subscription sales, and sweepstakes. However, in recent years those numbers have gone down the tubes.

The company's decline led to a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing back in April of this year, listing in excess of $65 million of debts and assets of below $12 million. This comes on the heels of their $18.5 million settlement with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) just last year for allegations that they misled people about their online games and sweepstakes.

Even worse, previous PCH sweepstakes winners are getting stiffed, as ten prize winners, including eight owed $2+ million each, were listed as unsecured creditors in their bankruptcy filing.

But that's not the interesting part that blew my mind. What's shocking is that, in June, Publisher's Clearing House was acquired for $7.1 million plus expenses by ARB Interactive.

You will be surprised to learn that ARB Interactive is an online sweepstakes casino operator. In fact, they run one of the larger operations in the USA market, Modo.us.

If you are curious how ARB is going to handle all those winners that got stiffed by the bankruptcy filing, it looks like those folks are getting the shaft. For the most part, players that won on or before July 15, 2025 will only have recourse through the bankruptcy case.

ARB has stated that they will honor prizes that were won after July 15, 2025, plus they will pay $975,000 towards annuity prizes that were won in May of this year.

I wonder what ARB's angle was that motivated them to buy PCH? Time will tell.

Steve Lapinski
Steve LapinskiCasino Editor

Steve Lapinski specializes in just about everything related to slot machines and casino games, both online and in land-based casinos in the USA. With over 25 years experience in the online gaming industry and nearly 40 years as a recreational gambler, the breadth of his knowledge on these topics is matched by few. Steve is passionate about casinos, and he takes great pride in sharing his knowledge of the subject with his readers.

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