As the legalization of sports betting spreads nationwide, we feel it is critical to establish guardrails around how sports betting should be advertised to consumers across the United States.
In an effort to address public complaints and head off a possible federal ban, a coalition of professional sports leagues and media companies have formed a voluntary association to better manage sports betting advertising.
Seven leagues — Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), NASCAR, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) — joined media powerhouses NBCUniversal and FOX to announce the formation of the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising (CRSBA) on Wednesday.
“As the legalization of sports betting spreads nationwide, we feel it is critical to establish guardrails around how sports betting should be advertised to consumers across the United States,” CRSBA members said in a joint statement.
“Each member of the coalition feels a responsibility to ensure sports betting advertising is not only targeted to an appropriate audience but also that the message is thoughtfully crafted and carefully delivered.”
CRSBA said its commitment “to implement and maintain consumer protection policies” would revolve around six core principles. Specifically, the coalition believes:
- Sports betting should be marketed only to adults of legal betting age
- Advertising for sports betting should not promote irresponsible or excessive gambling
- Ads should not be misleading
- Sports betting ads should be in good taste
- Publishers should have the appropriate internal controls to review sports betting ads
- Publishers should also review consumer complaints about such advertising
Forming this coalition with fellow leaders in sports and entertainment is another important step for our industry as legal sports betting continues to grow.
On the first principle, CRSBA elaborated that the content of sports betting advertisements — as well as any marketing or promotions tied to them — should appeal to adults of legal betting age and “should never be endorsed or otherwise promoted by any person who is, or appears to be, below such legal age.”
The coalition added that materials that support a sportsbook “should only appear in media where a significant majority of the audience is reasonably expected to be of legal betting age, and never primarily appeal to children in content or theme.”
With regard to the sixth principle, CRSBA added that publishers “should develop and implement a process to review consumer complaints” about sports betting advertising.
“Forming this coalition with fellow leaders in sports and entertainment is another important step for our industry as legal sports betting continues to grow,” said Kenny Gersh, MLB’s Executive Vice President for Media & Business Development.
“While providing new fan engagement opportunities to enjoy our sport in more ways, we have to continue to be mindful and deliberate with how these sports betting options are presented and to whom they’re directed.
“Layering this coalition’s work in the advertising arena on top of our efforts to promote responsible gambling and address problem gambling challenges will lead to more thoughtful planning and implementation across the board.”
Sportsbooks have been under fire from the public for the volume of advertising they have also unleashed. That ire has also attracted the attention of Congress.
Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) introduced HR 967 — aka the Betting on Our Future Act, which would enact a federal ban on almost all advertising for sports betting — on February 9. The prospects for the bill are uncertain, but it has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
