Ohio has the potential to become a thriving home to legal sports betting, with experts projecting it as a $3.5 billion market. Still, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is calling out sportsbooks for advertising practices less than a week after launch.
DraftKings faces a potential $350,000 fine for mailers that may have gone to some addressees under the legal betting age of 21. Meanwhile, Penn National property Barstool Sportsbook could be assessed a $250,000 fine for an event on a college campus involving students under the age of 21.
“The companies doing the massive advertising need to be aware that they’re being looked at very closely by the governor and the Casino Control Commission regarding statements that they are making,” DeWine told reporters last week, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “We believe that, at least on several occasions, they have already crossed the line. My message to them is that this will not be tolerated in the State of Ohio.”
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DraftKings, Barstool Face Fines
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) oversees sports betting in the Buckeye State. The OCCC stated that DraftKings sent approximately 2,500 mailers to residents under 21. Meanwhile, Barstool Sportsbook’s event at a University of Toledo football game in late 2022 allegedly broke state laws against advertising on college campuses by targeting potential customers under the age of 21, according to Cleveland.com.
The situation led the OCCC to send sports betting stakeholders an email reminder about the state’s advertising rules.
“In recent weeks, the advertising actions of the industry at large (have) been concerning,” the commission statement read. Rules regarding advertising were first published in June, the statement added. “However, the Commission has seen the industry break three of these core tenets recently.”
Those tenets involved the presence of a responsible gaming message that is conspicuously placed and not targeting individuals under the age of 21.
“We ask that all operators look at the platforms and areas where they are advertising and ensure they are not targeted at individuals under 21,” the commission added. “We understand mistakes happen, but it is not a mistake when it appears to be this consistent.”
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Ohio Governor Calling Out Sportsbooks: A Line They Cannot Cross
DeWine also took issue with the term “free bets,” which sportsbooks commonly use to incentivize new customers. Since many of those offers require an initial qualifying wager or a lost first bet, sportsbooks operating in Ohio “may not describe them as free, risk-free or any variant thereof,” according to the commission. Operators must instead use a “non-misleading term” such as “bonus bets” or “bet tokens.”
“That’s a pretty clear line they cannot cross,” DeWine told reporters last week.” I also think they must be very careful, candidly, in regard to the claim of ‘free money’ and ‘free gaming.’ When you look at the fine print or try to figure out what it really means, it doesn’t mean what certainly is being implied by the TV advertising.”
Operators facing potential fines are entitled to hearings before the commission. As of Jan. 1, there were 20 mobile sports betting license holders in Ohio listed as either “active” or “active conditional” by the commission.
With mobile and retail wagering both going live on the same day in a state with nearly 12 million residents, Ohio’s launch on Jan. 1 was believed to be the largest single-day expansion of legal sports betting in U.S. history.
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