Both DraftKings and PENN Entertainment‘s Barstool Sportsbook settled their violations with Ohio sports betting regulators Wednesday.
The two companies waived their rights to a hearing. Both were fined for different violations of Ohio’s strict advertising rules.
So far, four Ohio sportsbooks have been alleged to run afoul of advertising rules. Caesars also accepted the violations without a hearing, leaving just BetMGM‘s violation still open.
PENN apologizes for Barstool college activity
PENN accepted the $250,000 fine and required additional training for their violation that stemmed from a Barstool College Football Show that took place near the University of Toledo campus. There was also an ad read toward the end of the show that promoted Barstool Sportsbook’s pre-registration bonus offer.
The company’s VP and Chief Compliance Officer Chris Soriano expressed regret via Zoom:
“We are in here today proud of our culture of compliance and proud of our responsibilities and operator for the many years that we’ve operated in Ohio. In this matter, we fell short of the mark. We accept responsibility for that by reading the advertisement during the Barstool College Football Show. We recognize that we have violated the Ohio regulations and Ohio law regarding this, and again we admit that we have fallen short of the mark. We regret that this took place.”
PENN agreed to not allow anyone under the age of 21 at their shows in Ohio moving forward.
DraftKings paid $500K for Ohio sports betting violations
DraftKings was notified of violations on two separate occasions. Accepting responsibility for the mistakes cost the company half a million dollars.
The first violation came before sports betting in Ohio went live. In November, DraftKings mailed 2,582 advertisements to customers under the age of 21 after using a filter for an 18+ audience instead of a 21+ audience.
The second set of violations came between Jan. 1 and Jan. 3. That was when DraftKings or an affiliate broke two ad rules:
- Information about resources for problem gambling was not clear or conspicuous
- Promotions or bonuses were described as “free” when a bettor had to risk their own money first to receive the bonus.
BetMGM and Caesars allegedly broke the same rules.
Ohio regulatory commission will get new faces
This was the last Ohio Casino Control Commission meeting for three of the commission’s members:
- Chair June Taylor
- Vice Chair John Steinhauer
- Commissioner McKinley Brown
All three of their terms expire next week.
