Barstool Sports was fined $250,000 for promoting his sportsbook on a college campus. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Two serious violations
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has fined Barstool Sports for illegally marketing its Barstool sportsbook during an event on campus November 15 at the University of Toledo.
Violation of two gambling regulations regarding who and where she may advertise
According to the commission, Barstool violated two gambling regulations regarding who and where it could advertise services. In promoting his sportsbook to a mostly under-21 audience and by broadcasting from a college campus, Barstoll became punished with heavy fines totaling $250,000.
Barstool’s majority owner, Penn Entertainment, has 30 days to respond to the penalty or request a meeting.
Barstool Ohio violated campus standards
The event was held in mid-November on the grounds of the University of Toledo. Barstool has broadcast the “Barstool Tailgate Show,” discussing a variety of topics, including Toledo’s upcoming rivalry game with Bowling Green University.
In between previewing the match and diving into a variety of other topics, the hosts of the show mentioned Barstool’s sportsbook, its intricacies, and its performances, a direct violation of Ohio law.
We take responsible gambling very seriously here at the Commission.”
They were encouraging people to pre-register; “They were advertising for the sportsbook,” said Jessica Franks, OCCC’s director of communications. “We take responsible gambling very seriously here at the Commission, particularly the fact that sports have never been officially launched; we take this very seriously. We are not actively seeking to fine or punish companies.”
Ohio is making its final preparations to launch its sports betting market on January 1, 2023. Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation in December 2021, and the state — led by the OCCC — has spent the time since creating the appropriate infrastructure, vetting licensing applications, and determining which entities will eventually be able to offer services. gamble.
Barstool acquired its license in September, along with FanDuel, Caesars, and several local professional sports teams. Violating the company in Toledo would not jeopardize its status as a licensee, but it could subject it to harsher penalties in the future.
problem across the country
OCCC is focused on maintaining order as the betting market is poised to explode in a couple of weeks. After this intent, the regulator suggested it might not be done with Barstool after a quarter-million-dollar fine.
A well-known rule about advertising on college campuses.”
“Our goal is compliance,” Franks said. “It is only when we have violations that are so egregious or repeated that we will seek some kind of monetary penalty to underscore the seriousness. The fact that it was a violation of a well-known rule about advertising on college campuses—that fine may not be the final fine.”
OCCC will not sanction the University of Toledo after the illegal promotion was found to be a paid-in-all decision.
The news comes at a turbulent time for Barstol. two weeks ago, The The New York Times He published an article attacking founder Dave Portnoy for being a “degenerate gambler”, among other outrageous epithets.
This piece, along with Portnoy’s history of dividing opinion, also caused the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to stop approval of Plainridge Park Casino’s betting license due to its ties to Barstool.
There has also been pressure to expel sports betting operators from college campuses. Last month, US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote a letter to Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg calling on college students to be excluded from the target audience for sportsbooks.
