Blog   Gambling

Efforts are underway in the state legislature to legalize video sweepstakes gambling in North Carolina, and WE NEED YOUR HELP TO STOP IT! Please contact your member of the State House this weekend and ask him or her to OPPOSE the legalization of video sweepstakes.

It is our understanding that the House Republican Caucus is planning to discuss sweepstakes legislation in a caucus meeting on Tuesday, June 23. If a majority of caucus members express support for the legislation, HB 922–Video Sweepstakes Regulation and Taxation could begin to move quickly through the House.

It is imperative that your House member hears from you this weekend!

Identifying Your State House Member:

• Visit the “Who Represents Me?” page on the General Assembly website;
• Type your address in the “Find address or place” bar on the N.C House map;
• Click on the map, and then click on the “Open Member Page” link;
• Call and email your House member!

Bill Background & Talking Points:

• House Bill 922 would legalize video sweepstakes gambling by licensing, taxing and regulating this activity, which is currently illegal in North Carolina.

• Suggestions that North Carolina’s sweepstakes law is unclear, and that Internet Cafes are “legitimate businesses” are patently false!

On June 11, 2015, the N.C. Supreme Court once again upheld the enforcement of North Carolina’s laws criminalizing video sweepstakes gambling. In Sandhill Amusements, Inc. v. Sheriff of Onslow County, the Supreme Court affirmed that the elements of chance involved in electronic sweepstakes gambling outweigh the elements of skill and dexterity, thus making the operation of these gambling machines illegal in North Carolina.

On May 6, 2015, U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker (Eastern District of North Carolina) announced that he had entered into agreements with five sweepstakes software companies that will prohibit them from supplying software to over 500 “Internet Cafes” in North Carolina as of July 1, 2015. According to the agreements, the U.S. Attorney will not prosecute these companies “for the use of alleged illegal internet sweepstakes software in internet cafes across the state of North Carolina,” as long as they cease activities related to electronic sweepstakes in North Carolina by July 1. The U.S. Attorney based his authority, in large part, on the November 2014 ruling of the N.C. Court of Appeals in State v. Spruill, which upheld the conviction of two Edgecombe County citizens for running an illegal sweepstakes gambling operation. The Court determined the operation used “an entertaining display, including the entry process or the reveal of a prize” in violation of the state’s gambling laws. The court furthermore stated that North Carolina law, “seeks to prevent the use of entertaining displays in the form of video games to conduct sweepstakes wherein the prize is determined by chance.”

• Video gambling has been dubbed by gambling experts as the “crack cocaine” of gambling, because it is so addictive.

• Legalizing video sweepstakes will result in a proliferation of mini gambling casinos across North Carolina that state law enforcement officers have been working for years to eliminate.

• Taxing video sweepstakes operations will make the state government complicit in yet another form of gambling. Just like with the lottery, the state will become reliant upon the income from this form of gambling and will face continued pressure to maintain and increase revenues from video sweepstakes.    

Please call your member of the State House this weekend and ask him or her to OPPOSE House Bill 922, which would legalize sweepstakes gambling in North Carolina!

Please also send a quick email to us at admin@ncfamily.org to let us know how they respond.

Thank You!