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One of the architects of today's US sports betting regulation, Joe Brennan, Jr, tweeted this week that he never envisioned gambling companies acting so irresponsibly when it came to advertising their brands. Gambling911.com has pointed out everything from FanDuel's social media account seemingly mocking domestic violence and PointsBet's Drew Brees stunt whereby they had the sports commentator and former New Orleans Saints quarterback getting struck by lightning while failing to disclose they were filming a TV spot.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has come out with a new code of conduct requiring its members to sever partnerships with universities.
If you're looking for someone to blame, you can start with me. When we were pushing legalization, we (I) assumed advertising would be restricted & regulated just like ads for B&M casinos are, so we (I) did not focus on it. Now I really wish we had. https://t.co/moAXklLvvV
— Joe Brennan Jr (@joebrennanjr) April 27, 2023
Brennan, Jr. was responding to an opinion piece appearing on Legal Sports Report entitled: "We’re All Looking For The People Who Let Sports Betting Advertising Become A Problem".
While Legal Sports Report is a good industry resource, they might want to look within. In addition to the AGA condemning those college/sportsbook relationships, they're also seeking an end to the irresponsible promo offers, none of which have any business appearing on Google News.
Michael Murphy of BettorLeads has been especially outspoken over this abuse in recent months.
Parasite SEO "guest posts" that promote illegal gambling sites on otherwise reputable news/media sites has to stop. I discussed this with Colorado regulators in regards to the Denver Post doing it, was promised it would be investigated, and nothing happened. https://t.co/ddk61HPLMs
— MichaelJMurphy (@MichaelJMurphy) April 26, 2023
LSR is run by one of the larger affiliate conglomerates. The same folks responsible for pushing bonus codes on news aggregator sites for Legal Sports Report do the same for more established mainstream media outlets as well. Witness below.
Looking for news pertaining to DraftKings? The Washington City Paper has your Free $1000 in bonus bets awaiting.
It's even worse when you enter BetMGM into Google News. The Philadelphia Inquirer has some nice bonus codes for you as well.
These are the tenets of the newly formed Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising as pointed out by John Holden of LSR:
- Sports Betting Should be Marketed Only to Adults of Legal Betting Age
- Sports Betting Advertising Should Not Promote Irresponsible or Excessive Gambling or Degrade the Consumer Experience
- Sports Betting Advertisements Should Not Be Misleading
- Sports Betting Advertisements Should Be In Good Taste
- Publishers Should Have Appropriate Internal Reviews of Sports Betting Advertising
- Publishers Should Review Consumer Complaints Pertaining to Sports Betting Advertising
We not so subtly highlighted No. 5 on this list for LSR.
Holden writes:
These, of course, are all reasonable, though vague, but this is also neglecting the fact that these guidelines should already be guiding the industry. There is seemingly nothing new here. This pronouncement reads as little more than, “uh-oh we better say something because this gambling thing is starting to look bad and we are really benefiting from it.”
Affiliates abusing the system is a very real problem that could ultimately land the likes of Legal Sports Report, the Miami Herald and Philadelphia Inquirer in some serious hot water if not addressed immediately.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
