# San Francisco Votes for Pinball **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2014-05-02 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/sfpinball.html --- ## Analysis San Francisco's Board of Supervisors repealed an archaic 1980s police code on May 22, 2014, that had restricted establishments to a maximum of 10 arcade machines based on floor area. The change was championed by Matthew Henri of Free Gold Watch (a printing business operating 34 machines) and City Supervisors London Breed and Scott Wiener, enabling future barcade developments like Project 22 in the Castro district. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] San Francisco police code from the 1980s limited arcade machines to 10 per establishment, scaled down by floor area — _Specific regulatory details provided with detailed floor area tiers_ - [HIGH] Free Gold Watch operated 34 amusement machines under the old law — _Matthew Henri explicitly stated as operating 34 machines at Free Gold Watch_ - [HIGH] Board of Supervisors voted on April 22, 2014 to repeal the machine restriction — _Specific date and action documented in article_ - [HIGH] Free Gold Watch hosted the SFPD (San Francisco Pinball Department) league biweekly — _Explicitly stated in article_ - [HIGH] Project 22, a gay barcade, was planning to open at The Century at Market and 15th Street in the Castro district — _Named as provisionally-named Project 22 with specific location given_ ### Notable Quotes > "San Francisco and the Bay Area is not exactly renowned for the scarcity of pinball machines in bars, shopping malls, diners and laundromats." > — **Article author** > _Sets context that SF already had pinball presence despite regulatory restrictions_ > "An archaic law from the 1980s designed to prevent crime and disorder amongst the teaming crowds of video game players has held the city back from emulating the success of large-scale barcades found in cities such as Seattle, Chicago and Portland, Oregon." > — **Article author** > _Establishes the regulatory barrier preventing SF barcade growth comparable to other major cities_ > "Instrumental in working to get the cap lifted has been Matthew Henri of printing business Free Gold Watch, located at the eastern end of Golden Gate Park." > — **Article author** > _Credits Free Gold Watch owner as key advocate in successful regulatory change_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Free Gold Watch | organization | Pinball arcade and printing business in San Francisco operated by Matthew Henri; hosted SFPD league; operated 34 machines; instrumental in lobbying for regulatory change | | Matthew Henri | person | Owner of Free Gold Watch; led effort to repeal arcade machine cap restrictions in San Francisco | | London Breed | person | San Francisco City Supervisor who championed repeal of arcade machine restrictions | | Scott Wiener | person | San Francisco City Supervisor who championed repeal of arcade machine restrictions | | Project 22 | organization | Planned gay barcade in San Francisco's Castro district at The Century (Market and 15th Street); enabled by new regulation | | San Francisco Board of Supervisors | organization | Legislative body that voted to repeal arcade machine restrictions on April 22, 2014 | | SFPD (San Francisco Pinball Department) | organization | Pinball league that met biweekly at Free Gold Watch | ### Topics - **Primary:** Regulatory change and deregulation, San Francisco pinball and arcade scene, Barcade development and growth - **Secondary:** Free Gold Watch venue, Community advocacy and policy change ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Article celebrates regulatory removal as enabling growth of pinball culture; optimistic tone about future barcade development in SF ### Signals - **[business_signal]** Regulatory barrier removal enabling commercial expansion of barcade venues in San Francisco (confidence: high) — Board of Supervisors repealed 1980s arcade machine cap, removing restriction that limited establishments to 10 machines maximum - **[event_signal]** SFPD (San Francisco Pinball Department) biweekly league hosted at Free Gold Watch demonstrating organized pinball community presence (confidence: high) — Article states Free Gold Watch hosted SFPD league fortnight - **[market_signal]** San Francisco positioned for barcade growth comparable to Seattle, Chicago, and Portland following regulatory change (confidence: high) — Article discusses removal of 'biggest restriction holding back' barcade ambition in SF --- ## Transcript Date: 2nd May, 2014 San Francisco and the Bay Area is not exactly renowned for the scarcity of pinball machines in bars, shopping malls, diners and laundromats. Indeed, many of them are featured in our Sites section. However, an archaic law from the 1980s designed to prevent crime and disorder amongst the teaming crowds of video game players has held the city back from emulating the success of large-scale barcades found in cities such as Seattle, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. The SFPD Police Code put a limit on the number of arcade machines any one establishment could operate. The maximum permitted was ten, and even that meagre number was further reduced if the floor area of the premises was below 4,501 square feet: Floor area (sq. ft.) Number of machines 4,501+ 10 4,001 - 4,500 9 3,501 - 4,000 8 3,001 - 3,500 7 2,501 - 3,000 6 2,001 - 2,500 5 1,501 - 2,000 4 1,001 - 1,500 3 301 - 1,000 2 0 - 300 0 Instrumental in working to get the cap lifted has been Matthew Henri of printing business Free Gold Watch, located at the eastern end of Golden Gate Park. He has been operating 34 amusement machines at his business and even hosted the SFPD - that's the San Francisco Pinball Department - league each fortnight, but faced a visit from the other SFPD unless the law could be overturned. Now though, thanks to the efforts of City Supervisors London Breed and Scott Wiener, a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on 22nd April, 2014 repealed the legislation, meaning San Francisco business owners no longer face restriction on the number of amusement machines they can operate. Free Gold Watch weren't the only one's hoping the law could be overturned. The provisionally-named Project 22 gay barcade can now push ahead with their plans to open in The Century at Market and 15th Street in the Castro district. San Francisco certainly has the pinball passion, energy and machines to create the kind of barcade scene currently thriving in other major cities. With the biggest restriction holding back such ambition removed, we look forward to reporting on even more great places by the Bay to play the silver ball. Back to the News page Like this page? Share it with your Facebook friends: Back to the front page _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 136a759b-a792-4b68-a9d1-e7d963339375*