Responsible Gambling Needs To Be More Than A Corporate Talking Point
Photo by Logan Voss on Unsplash
Yesterday, it struck me while watching the NFL how invasive the messaging from sportsbooks and prediction markets has become. This isn’t a new phenomenon, obviously, but it finally hit home for some reason.
You have on-air talent offering their picks for a parlay and then roll right into a commercial that touts them. The prediction markets call these combos. These high-margin products (aka sucker bets) are relentlessly promoted through ads and buttressed by talking heads in pregame shows.
Full disclosure: I’m an avid recreational bettor who never had kids. In a CNBC interview last week, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins discussed the importance of being transparent with your children about gambling. Robins also defended his company’s approach to responsible gambling at the SBC Summit in September.
“A huge part of that culture around responsible gaming is making sure it’s not just a process, a set of things that people do, but it’s actually truly a part of the DNA of the company,” he said. “Every single person in the company cares about it. If you ask anyone — down from the customer service associates, the engineers, anyone — they will tell you that this is a priority for the company.”
For some reason, Robins failed to mention the company’s VIP hosts. It’s not just DraftKings, either. FanDuel’s VIP program is under heavy scrutiny from Congress after its Bryce Harper mini-scandal. Bottom line: You can’t preach responsible gambling while preying on problem gamblers.
Profiting From Problem Gamblers
I’ve been fortunate to tell the redemption stories of recovering gambling addicts, including Matt Bowyer, Louis Ruggiero, Chris Swett, and Sam Favata.
“Sportsbooks don’t care about reducing gambling harm,” Ruggiero told me. “It’s a 100% PR exercise.”
Ruggiero, who hosts the podcast Nothing’s Off The Table, recalled the day when he walked into FanDuel in the Meadowlands with $65,000 stuffed in a backpack.
“I put it all on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers versus the Chiefs,” he said. “I won, thank God. I lost it all three days later, but that’s another story. I remember thinking to myself, ‘How does a company not see any red flags when a 26-year-old brings in a backpack full of cash?'”
Companies choose what they want to see and what they want to say publicly. Swett is a former trial attorney who lost a lucrative career to a gambling addiction. Like Ruggiero, he tried to quit on several occasions but was always lured back by his VIP host.
“I’d quit for a week or two, and I’d get an email from my host with offers, whether it be sporting events or just offers for free entries,” Swett said.
He added, “The perk that really got me was if I were to gamble $750,000 a month, I would get 6% back,” he said. “And so that was my goal. I wasn’t even chasing the money anymore to win the bet or win the contest.”
Swett, Ruggiero, Bowyer, and Favata are all trying to help others now – after taking full responsibility for their actions. It would be nice if sportsbooks did the same.
Players trust our reporting due to our commitment to unbiased and professional evaluations of the iGaming sector. We track hundreds of platforms and industry updates daily to ensure our news feed and leaderboards reflect the most recent market shifts. With nearly two decades of experience within iGaming, our team provides a wealth of expert knowledge. This long-standing expertise enables us to deliver thorough, reliable news and guidance to our readers.
Latest News
