Area VFWs, fraternal groups adopt `e-bingo' gaming

Of the revenue charitable gaming raises for each club, at least 25% must go to other local charities.

Springfield VFW posts are among several hundred Ohio veteran and fraternal organizations participating in “e-bingo” gaming after Ohio became the eighth state to adopt electronic bingo as a fundraising tool for charitable organizations.

Nearly two dozen Clark County organizations have been granted licenses by the Ohio Attorney

General to operate electronic instant bingo machines, also called e-bingo.

The more than 20 locations are linked to clubs like Clark County’s posts of the Veteran of Foreign Wars, the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, the American Legion, AMVETS, the Crystal Lakes Moose Lodge, the Order of the Elks and the Disabled American Veterans, according to Ohio Attorney General’s Office records.

E-bingo provides a source of entertainment for members of veteran and fraternal organizations while raising money for local charities, according to VFW Post #3660 post commander Frank Perkins.

The machines at the Columbus Road post include electronic versions of pull tabs and paper bingo that patrons have been playing for years, Perkins said.

Springfield VFW members can continue to come into the post and pay to play low-stakes, lowrisk games that give them the chance to win money.

“It’s more attractive, engaging, entertaining,” Perkins said. “And when you play, we all win.”

Opponents of the program have cited the potential for gambling addiction.

Ohio launched the new form of state-approved gambling this spring. Of the revenue that charitable gaming raises for each post or fraternal club, at least 25% must go to other charities in their local communities.

Post #3660, which reported

$276,621 in assets to the state attorney general’s office in 2021, has more than 400 members and donates about $40,000 annually

to groups like the Special Wish Run, Salvation Army, and police and fire organizations, according to the post.

The e-bingo machines, which rolled into Post #3660 months back, were supplied by Cleveland-based Arrow International, a gaming products company.

Chris Strano, the COO of e-gaming for Arrow International, said Ohio has a sizable market for veterans-based groups and fraternal organizations: one of the largest pools in the country with more than 900 clubs statewide.

Membership to veterans-affiliated clubs and fraternal organizations have declined over the years, Strano said, due to current members aging out and younger potential recruits not seeking membership.

Strano said e-bingo could help bring “sustainability” to Ohio’s network clubs through the modernization of activities available at the post.

“It’s another reason to come into the club and help local communities,” he said.

Charitable gaming accounts for only 2% of gaming wagers in the state each year. Arrow’s Ohio charitable gaming products raise an average of $70 million annually, according to the company.

The electronic gaming platform was authorized through an amendment to the state budget bill in June 2021. The amendment ended a nine-year legal fight over the legality of electronic gaming devices, WCPO reported.

“The machines that existed prior to electronic instant bingo were by and large unlawful and unregulated,” Daniel Fausey, chief of the charitable law section of the Ohio Attorney General’s office, told WCPO. “So, we don’t have good data on how those machines were used.”

The AG has better data on paper bingo games, which generated $689.7 million in bingo receipts in 2021 and $93.7 million in net profits for veteran groups, after prizes and expenses are paid, WCPO reported. Fausey isn’t sure how the new games will impact revenue from pull-tab games, but added the goal is for the new machines to “eclipse the availability and the revenue stream that they saw from” electronic raffle machines.

“What we’re really doing here is modernizing existing bingo and doing it in a way that’s transparent,” Fausey added. “They’re required to give us real-time access to their records and their finances. We’ll be able to make sure the money is going where it’s supposed to go … and be safe for the users.”