On Monday, New York sports betting regulators praised many colleges and universities for ending marketing partnerships with sportsbooks.
During its meeting, New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) Chairman Brian O’Dwyer said he is “(heartened) by the news that many of the colleges and universities that had previously entered into marketing arrangements with sports betting corporations are now negating those arrangements. This commission has repeatedly denounced those arrangements.”
Currently, there are no NY sports betting partnerships between sportsbooks and any colleges or universities in the state.
NY sports betting ad rules timeline
New York sports betting regulators are nearing a decision on their advertising rules.
On February 27, the NYSGC authorized the proposal of rules to regulate sports betting advertising, marketing, and promotions. The proposal would effectively have banned affiliate marketers in New York.
The NYSGC revised those rules in May, stating it never intended to prohibit third-party marketers from being compensated.
On Monday, O’Dwyer said, “As I stated in our last meeting, while we have allowed third-party marketing arrangements, we will be closely monitoring all advertising to ensure that they meet our standards. We look forward hopefully by the next meeting to finalize our particular regulations in terms of marketing arrangements overall.”
There is no date for the commission’s next meeting.
Advertising code in New York sports betting and beyond
iDEA Growth, a gaming industry group, released its Responsible Advertising Code last month. Its five main pillars include:
- Comply with state law
- Promote gambling only to those of legal age
- Limit college and university advertising
- Promote responsible gambling
- Implement and monitor code compliance
iDEA Growth is not outright opposed to sportsbooks partnering with colleges and universities. However, its stance is there should be no advertising on college campuses or in any school-operated media.
Recent college partnerships ended
Four schools recently stopped their partnerships with sportsbooks, each coming on the heels of US Sen. Richard Blumenthal in March calling for their termination.
PointsBet ended its partnerships with the University of Colorado in late March and the University of Maryland in April. LSU and Michigan State also began winding down their partnerships with Caesars Sportsbook earlier this month.
The only known partnership in the US sports betting market is between SuperBook and the University of Denver.
Rising concern prompts action
A New York Times article raised concerns about college partnerships and highlighted missteps with LSU. The university emailed students with Caesars signup offers, encouraging them to use a school-specific promo code.
The article also prompted Michigan State professors to launch a petition in April to end their school’s betting partnership.
Two bills in New Jersey took a step forward on Monday. Legislation to add more responsible gambling resources at public colleges in New Jersey and an outright ban on partnerships between schools and sportsbooks were referred to their respective committees for further review.
LSR reporter Mike Mazzeo contributed to this story.
