For decades, Publishers Clearing House (PCH) was known for delivering surprise windfalls to sweepstakes winners, often arriving at their homes with oversized checks and balloons. However, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York earlier this year, listing ten prize winners among its largest unsecured creditors. Court documents show PCH had liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, with assets estimated at only $1 million to $10 million.
In July, ARB Interactive, an online casino operator, acquired PCH out of bankruptcy for $7.1 million. The company announced it would honor prizes awarded only after July 15, raising concerns about whether previous winners will receive further payments.
John Wyllie of Bellingham, Washington, who won $5,000 a week for life from PCH in 2012, said he stopped receiving his annual check of $260,000 this year without warning. “I’m getting the shaft, on top of the shaft,” Wyllie said. After more than a decade without working thanks to his winnings, he has now taken a part-time job but says it is not enough to cover his mortgage. The ceremonial check that once symbolized financial security now serves as a reminder of halted payments. “Looking at it makes me sad and it makes me mad,” Wyllie said.
ARB Interactive stated Friday that it would pay out only prizes awarded after July 15. This includes two “SuperPrizes” worth up to $2.5 million combined and a $975,000 award given on May 31; another prize worth $1 million is scheduled for September 30. Payments owed to past PCH prize winners remain unpaid as ARB Interactive claims no responsibility for those obligations and PCH faces up to $100 million in debt.
The division of remaining assets among creditors—including prize winners—will be determined by a federal bankruptcy judge once PCH presents a plan.
A spokesperson for ARB Interactive said the company contributed funds to the bankruptcy estate and plans to create a new system ensuring future prize payments but did not specify the amount contributed. “Our vision is to rebuild PCH as a brand synonymous with trust, excitement and long-term integrity, and to ensure that every future winner can have full confidence their prizes will be paid in full, no matter what,” the spokesperson said.
Publishers Clearing House did not respond to requests for comment.
According to former senior executive Darrell Lester—who wrote a book about the company—PCH previously protected winners by purchasing prepaid annuities through banks or insurance companies until sometime after 2003. He criticized the current situation: “You can’t do that as a sweepstakes company,” Lester said. “You can’t not pay the winners. That’s a cardinal sin.”
Tamar and Matthew Veatch from Oregon are also affected by halted payments; both are disabled Army veterans raising three children who relied on nearly $200,000 annually from their win since 2021 until payments stopped this year. “My wife and I are both disabled veterans, and so we did OK financially,” Veatch said. “But it’s a fixed income. Neither of us can work.” The family depended on these funds for household expenses and had planned on using an expected payment in July to settle back taxes and debt—a payment that never arrived.
“They have absolutely ruined people’s lives,” Veatch said. “We’re literally in a worse spot now than we were when we won.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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