The New York State Gaming Commission has updated its marketing regulations in order to tackle a number of advertising issues, including misleading terms, revenue share affiliate agreements and underage advertising.
The updated marketing rules were approved at the group’s meeting on Monday with unanimous support and partially addressed some of the concerns raised by S1550, a proposed bill that aims to offer improved responsible gambling information on sportsbook advertising.
Through the Empire State’s updated legislation, an opt-out option must be available for anyone who no longer wants to receive marketing, while preventative measures will also be introduced to limit any sort of advertising that promotes harmful gambling or gambling as a right of passage.
Additionally, operators will no longer be allowed to advertise specific bets or use ads featuring characters that predominantly appeal to minors, such as cartoon characters.
Other limitations include an advertising ban in areas where the “reasonably foreseeable percentage” of the audience is under the legal wagering age and a stipulation whereby marketing on college-owned assets, such as school papers and radio stations, is strictly prohibited.
These regulatory amendments may have come as unsurprising to operators in New York after Congressman Paul Tonko recently announced plans for a federal bill to apply severe bans on sports betting marketing, comparing it to those applied to cigarettes.
A significant portion of the new rules outlined a clampdown on revenue share advertising agreements, as the regulations stated: “No casino sports wagering licensee or sports pool vendor may enter into an agreement with a third party to conduct advertising, marketing, or branding on behalf of, or to the benefit of, such licensee when compensation for such services is dependent on, or related to, the volume of patrons, wagers placed, or the outcome of the wagers.”
This issue has also been debated elsewhere in the states this week, as Massachusetts regulators proposed laws that would forbid both CPA and revenue share deals in the Bay State
Moreover, the NYSGC discussed how the process of downstate casino licensing is going so far. Likely due to the influx of licence applications, the commission has received hundreds of concerns regarding the request for application process, however will take the next three weeks to address these issues before moving to the next stage of licensing.