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The U.S. gambling industry is adopting a new responsible marketing code that will ban sports books from partnering with colleges to promote sports wagering.
The American Gaming Association advised The Associated Press on Tuesday of the new code due to intensive pressure surrounding out-of-control advertising that include loose terms to promote “free” or “risk-free” in describing bonus options. Go to Google News and you'll see the feed is flooded with these promos when you type the right search term in.
It's getting mighty ugly out there suddenly.
One New York congressman has introduced legislation that would ban all online and digital sports betting advertising.
“It has always been important that we get sports betting right,” said Bill Miller, the association’s president and CEO. “It’s always been our No. 1 interest in creating a high bar for responsible advertising and protecting consumers.”
Another part of the code that members must follow: There is a restriction on advertising to media where at least 73.6 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be 21 or older. No advertising on the Cartoon Network or on MTV.
There are five existing deals between universities and sportsbooks. These are allowed to continue until July 1.
The partnerships include Michigan State and Caesars and the bizarre LSU and Caesars deal that had the university ending out emails to students, not encouraging them to study hard, but to "place your first bet and earn your first bonus". Some of the recipients were underage.
The University of Colorado Boulder’s 2020 deal with sports book PointsBet included a $30 referral bonus every time someone signed up on PointsBet with the university’s promo code and placed a bet. That university has since ended the referral bonus program and PointsBet has since ended its partnership with The University of Colorado Boulder.
“PointsBet and the University of Colorado have decided it is mutually beneficial to end their partnership at this time. Both parties are thankful for the joint efforts throughout the relationship and wish the best for each organization going forward,” PointsBet issued in a statement this week.
PointsBet also has a deal with Maryland, which it is maintaining for now, and Superbook has one with the University of Denver.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
