Khabib: ‘Gambling is More Dangerous Than Alcohol’, Bans Sponsorships
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov now oversees Eagle FC and has vowed not to allow gambling sponsorships.
Eagle FC is a Russian mixed martial arts promotion established by Nurmagomedov in 2020.
While a fighter with the UFC, Khabib was regularly surrounded by ads for sportsbooks such as DraftKings.
“We have plenty of good sponsors that we work with and put on events,” Nurmagomedov said. “We don’t need bookmakers. I believe that gambling is more dangerous than alcohol. I think it’s worse to advertise gambling more than alcohol. Bookmakers ruin entire families. How many young guys go on their sites, stay on them, and become addicted?”
'@Eagle FC will never advertise bookmakers - it's worse than alcohol' K... https://t.co/t1Vo7ZbTtk via @YouTube
— gambling911 (@gambling911) August 25, 2022
DraftKings to Continue its Current High-Spending Player Acquisition Efforts
In recent days we've been reporting extensively on how legal U.S. sportsbooks have opted to pull back on their advertising coming into this NFL season, with a few exceptions.
DraftKings CEO and founder Jason Robins made the commitment during Tuesday’s Craig-Hallum Online Gaming Conference.
“I don’t know that a whole lot has to change,” Robins said. “I think a lot of the things that are already happening, like the rationalization of marketing and promotional spend and the slowing of fixed cost growth.”
DraftKings is yet to show a profit since launching legal sports gambling in the U.S. in 2018.
DraftKings has lost more than $3 billion since that time, not counting this year. The company stock is down over 67% since last summer.
Earlier this month, FanDuel announced it first quarterly profit ever.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com