Going Too Far

L ast month , Major League Baseball

Commissioner Rob Manfred said that most games would now have two pronged broadcasts — one the normal play-by-play and the other featuring gambling potentials .

As someone who rooted for sports betting to be legalized over the years — since 1992 , actually , when New Jersey voters approved sports betting for their state , only to be crushed by the politics of the time — this disturbs me .

I ’ ve heard many complaints from sports fans that they can ’ t watch the games without a sports betting advertisement sandwiched in during every break in the action . The dedicated sports bettors tell me that they already have a mobile app that they use most of the time , and those ads only serve to annoy them . And whether your celebrity pitchman is Jamie Foxx , Kevin Hart or the Manning brothers , it doesn ’ t matter to them . Just stop .

The same thing happened when daily fantasy sports was legalized in the U . S .— or I should say , DFS companies realized that no one was going to stop them . The DFS advertisements dominated every sports event , leading to lots of backlash and several state attorneys general trying to halt the spread of DFS . It also turned lots of viewers off the same way as the sports betting ads . Today I think , did we learn nothing from that experience ?

To be fair , however , DraftKings and FanDuel wouldn ’ t be the dominant sports betting apps today if they hadn ’ t accumulated the contact info of millions of DFS fans at that time .

And let ’ s note that the American Gaming Association has issued a “ best practices ” guideline for sports betting advertising , but it doesn ’ t look as if most of its members are following that missive . In the past couple of years , there has been backlash in Europe about these online sports betting promotions . Premier League teams in the U . K . have been urged to drop sponsorships by online sports betting sites ( although they have resisted giving up that lucrative revenue stream ). Gambling advertising has been banned in Spain and Italy and other European countries .

Regulators and legislators in the U . S . have taken note of the excessive advertising and promotions . In February , a congressman from New York suggested a federal ban on advertising sports betting . In May , at the UNLV Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking , a panel on sports betting advertising estimated that more than $ 725 million was spent advertising sports betting , and pointed out that the avalanche of ads continues despite no research being done to study its impact . Ohio has fined sportsbook operators more than $ 1 million for failing to take advertising limits seriously .

Remember , sports betting has been legalized in so many states because operators claim to be able to protect consumers much better than illegal online sports books . But is that true ? How much of this is lip service versus serious programs that can identify problem gamblers and their characteristics ? Again , no research has been done to quantify this .

The answer , in my humble opinion , is for sports betting operators to pull back — to limit how much they advertise , the way they advertise and to whom they advertise .

In Europe , affiliate marketing sites drive players to the online sportsbooks and casinos . But there is little or no regulation covering affiliates in that area . In the U . S ., most states require some kind of regulatory registration for , or licensing of , affiliates . But lots of those affiliates are also shilling for illegal online sportsbooks , casinos and poker rooms , and nothing is done about it . So what good does affiliate registration with a regulatory agency do if there are no rules or regulations , or if there are rules and regulations that aren ’ t enforced ?

In many cases , the operators are desperate for new customers and really don ’ t care if they get fined a few thousand dollars if their campaign actually works . At this point in the infancy of sports betting , there are five operators that dominate the market , accounting for more than 90 percent of the bets made . Companies that are trying to cut into those margins will do almost anything to increase their market share because the end is near if they can ’ t become profitable — and even some of the five top operators are still not profitable .

So it ’ s time for the adults in the room to take over , because if that doesn ’ t happen , the legislators and the regulators will . And we know from experience that is not the preferred route .

Vol . 22 • No . 11 • NOVEMBER 2023

Roger Gros , Publisher | rgros @ ggbmagazine . com twitter : @ GlobalGamingBiz

Frank Legato , Editor | flegato @ ggbmagazine . com twitter : @ FranklySpeakn

Jess Marquez , Managing Editor jmarquez @ ggbmagazine . com

John Reger , Associate Editor jreger @ ggbmagazine . com

Monica Cooley , Art Director mcooley @ ggbmagazine . com

Terri Brady , Sales & Marketing Director tbrady @ ggbmagazine . com

Becky Kingman-Gros , Chief Operating Officer bkingros @ ggbmagazine . com

Lisa Johnson , Communications Advisor lisa @ lisajohnsoncommunications . com twitter : @ LisaJohnsonPR

Columnists Frank Fantini | David Jacque Farahi | Anton Severin

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Rino Armeni , President , Armeni Enterprises

• Mark A . Birtha , Senior Vice President & General Manager , Hard Rock International

• Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs , President , Lifescapes International

• Nicholas Casiello Jr ., Shareholder , Fox Rothschild

• Jeffrey Compton , Publisher , CDC E-Reports twitter : @ CDCNewswire

• Dean Macomber , President , Macomber International , Inc .

• Stephen Martino , Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer , MGM Resorts International , twitter : @ stephenmartino

• Jim Rafferty , President , Rafferty & Associates

• Rob Russell , Senior Gaming Analyst , Regulatory Management Counselors PC

• Michael Soll , President , The Innovation Group

• Katherine Spilde , Executive Director , Sycuan Gaming Institute , San Diego State University , twitter : @ kspilde

• Ernie Stevens , Jr ., Chairman , National Indian Gaming Association twitter : @ NIGA1985

• Roy Student , President , Applied Management Strategies

• David D . Waddell , Partner Regulatory Management Counselors PC

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The views and opinions expressed by the writers and columnists of GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS are not necessarily the views of the publisher or editor .

GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS is published monthly by Casino Connection International , LLC . Printed in Nevada , USA . Postmaster : Send Change of Address forms to : 1000 Nevada Way , Suite 204 , Boulder City , NV 89005 Email : subscriptions @ ggbmagazine . com

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4 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2023

GGB Magazine November 2023 | Seite 6

THE AGENDA

Going Too Far

L ast month , Major League Baseball

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