We spoke with Patrick Fechtmeyer, CEO of ARB Interactive, the operator of Modo Casino and Publishers Clearing House, on the state of the sweepstakes industry.
ARB Interactive CEO Patrick Fechtmeyer believes the sweepstakes casino industry is entering a period of enhanced regulatory engagement, despite mounting legislative scrutiny across the United States.
Fechtmeyer spoke to Gambling Insider amid growing legislative pressure across multiple states on the sector and his efforts with the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) to push for regulation and modernization rather than prohibition.
Our conversation covered the industry’s calls for regulation and modernization, misconceptions around the “gray market” label, why sweepstakes operators have largely avoided litigation against states, regulated iGaming, prediction markets, Publishers Clearing House, and the future of the industry.
In the face of increasing state bans, Fechtmeyer described 2026 as a “positive” inflection point for the industry. Gambling Insider covered these comments separately.
Gambling Insider: You’ve become one of the more public-facing executives in the sweepstakes industry, testifying in multiple states. What made you decide to take such an active role in this debate?
Patrick Fechtmeyer: We built and grew our company here in America, and at some point, while juggling with the regulatory situation, it became clear to me that I wanted just to get my voice and our company’s views across in the industry, since there was a lot of what I felt was misrepresentations of the product and of the people within the industry.
So, really put myself out there to push back against what I felt were some unfair misrepresentations and some conversations that just didn’t have another voice or another opinion in them, so that was really the objective.
GI: Earlier this year, you wrote about the Sweepstakes Modernization Act and plans to introduce legislation in multiple states. Where does that effort stand today?
Fechtmeyer: ARB Interactive has recently brought on a government affairs head, and our main focus is on curbing the current actions being taken against us. We’ve been very busy with the defense, and we believe the next step is to introduce those options to state lawmakers.
Editor’s note: ARB Interactive appointed Steve Arthur as Vice President of Government Affairs in December 2025. Previously, he spent 17 years at Stateside Associates, a government affairs consulting firm.
GI: Some lawmakers, including New York Sen. Joseph Addabbo, have raised the possibility of regulation rather than prohibition. Are you engaging with lawmakers like that?
Fechtmeyer: Our company is definitely active in trying to be at the forefront of regulatory engagement.
Any lawmaker who’s willing to talk to us and who is interested in learning more about the industry and coming to an informed conclusion — because I think that’s ultimately the most important part — we are talking to or willing to talk to.
It’s so important to have multiple voices in the room.
GI: Critics might ask, ‘If the industry already believes these products are legal, why is modernization necessary at all?’
Fechtmeyer: Modernization helps everybody. It helps protect consumers. It helps create a clearer framework for companies to operate within, with no ambiguity or debate.
Every industry eventually needs to modernize the laws that govern it, especially if those laws were written 100 years ago. Things move really fast.
GI: Critics often say sweepstakes casinos operate in a legal gray area. What separates ARB and Modo from offshore operators?
Fechtmeyer: What separates ARB and Modo from offshore operators is that we’re not offshore — we’re in the United States.
There’s a big difference between onshore companies, which pay taxes, engage with lawmakers, and play by the same rules, and offshore companies, which don’t pay the same taxes and don’t play by the same rules.
Offshore operators are a major problem in social casinos. A lot of people come in not following the same consumer protection guidelines that ARB holds itself to, or the sweepstakes laws.
GI: Your public argument centers heavily on consumer protection. What does Modo do today when a player shows signs of problem gambling? How can that be verified without a licensing regime?
Fechtmeyer: Modo offers tools that users can easily access to limit the number of purchases of our gold coins or to temporarily lock their accounts.
These are responsible social gaming tools that we offer directly on the website so players can easily access them. We also have internal teams monitoring activity to ensure users play responsibly.
GI: You and the SGLA have argued for regulation and taxation rather than prohibition. But iGaming supporters have made similar tax arguments for years. Why would lawmakers prioritize a sweepstakes framework instead?
Fechtmeyer: I think it’s two different industries. The players differ in many ways, and each product deserves careful consideration of exactly how it should be regulated.
Social sweepstakes casinos are already legal in many states, and with some simple consumer protection statutes or guidelines, many of the requirements are already in place.
It’s a much smaller hurdle to regulate social sweepstakes and social casinos than it is to enact an entire iGaming framework. We have to think about the fastest path to protecting and safeguarding consumers. Also, what’s the fastest path towards capturing the revenue that already exists.
I would argue that social sweepstakes is actually the fastest path to capturing this existing entertainment-sector spend. It’s not nearly as controversial politically among constituents, many of whom already play these games.
GI: Prediction market operators have aggressively fought state regulators in court. Why hasn’t the sweepstakes industry taken the same approach?
Fechtmeyer: I think that this is just a different strategy. The sweepstakes industry has taken a different approach to regulation, working with regulators and states to find solutions rather than going straight to lawsuits. Prediction markets are under federal guidance, so they’re simply fighting these state guidance issues.
The sweepstakes industry is trying to engage with lawmakers where they are and meet every state where they are. Many states have completely different needs.
The fact that prediction markets are suing states has nothing to do with sweepstakes, in my opinion.
GI: Prediction markets are becoming one of the biggest conversations in gambling. Is that an area ARB Interactive would ever explore?
Fechtmeyer: We are not planning on engaging in prediction markets at this time. We’re focused on the social casino product and on these other kinds of games where we feel our niche is better served.
GI: Do you think ARB or other sweepstakes operators could eventually cross into regulated iGaming markets?
Fechtmeyer: The games are totally different. The platforms are totally different. They’re two distinct products that lawmakers can evaluate separately in many ways.
I can’t speak to any SGLA participants, but for ARB Interactive, we’re focused on this market particularly. We think that there’s a lot of opportunity here.
GI: Speaking of the future, you’ve talked about modernizing Publishers Clearing House and bringing it further into the digital world. What’s the future for that?
Fechtmeyer: Publishers Clearing House, we’re really focused on modernizing it, making it a digital-first brand.
I would defer to the CEO’s comment there. They have their own strategy, which is materializing as we speak. It’s definitely an exciting product, and we’re really excited to continue adding to and revitalizing that brand.
Editor’s Note: Publishers Clearing House named Owen O’Donoghue as its new CEO in September 2025. Previously, O’Donoghue held leadership roles in Facebook/Meta and Microsoft. In the announcement of his appointment, O’Donoghue said his focus will be on blending “PCH’s storied heritage with innovative, free-to-play gaming experiences integrated with ARB’s flagship platform, Modo.”
GI: Will PCH and Modo eventually converge in some way, or will they remain separate brands?
Fechtmeyer: They’ll stay completely separate, so they have different CEOs, different operating structures, and everything.
GI: Modo has partnerships with NASCAR, Formula 1, and PBR. How do legislative debates around sweepstakes casinos affect conversations with sports properties and sponsors?
Fechtmeyer: The partners we work with have been great, and there have been no issues.
We’re excited to find more partnerships in the United States, continue to invest in the United States for the long term, and continue to support the industry and push towards a stable, continually growing future for the industry and ourselves.
GI: Looking ahead, what do you think regulators, lawmakers, and even the broader gaming industry still fundamentally misunderstand about sweepstakes casinos?
Fechtmeyer: One misconception is that sweepstakes casinos are all these shady offshore operators who are fly-by-night, ignoring different laws. I think that misconception has started subsiding more as we’ve continued to have conversations, and people have started valuing the industry.
The other misconception is this idea that social sweepstakes and iGaming are mutually exclusive — that you can only have one or the other. I don’t think that’s true. I think that’s a false conclusion. The products are different, the players engage with them in different ways, and both products obviously have demand.
Once you get those misconceptions out of your mind, I think it becomes much easier to evaluate the rational option: modernizing sweepstakes laws, creating a fair tax structure, and providing consumer protections for social sweepstakes games as they exist now and into the future.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
