Caesars was the first operator to address its Ohio sports betting violation in a public setting, with regulators pleased with how the company handled the issue.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
Caesars Sportsbook received a notice of violation from the Ohio Casino Control Commission just days after Ohio sportsbooks launched on Jan. 1. BetMGM and DraftKings received notices of violation as well, but Caesars chose to waive its right to a hearing and address the commission at its Wednesday meeting.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
According to Caesars representatives at the meeting, the company ended its business relationship with a marketing affiliate nationwide as a result of the violation.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
Details of Ohio sports betting violation
There were two issues with the marketing messages from the Caesars affiliate: no conspicuous RG messaging and the use of “free” or “risk-free” when describing a promotion that requires a bettor to stake their own money in order to get that promotion.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
Senior VP of Regulatory and Compliance Jeff Hendricks told the commission the affiliate did not follow protocol to have content approved by Caesars before pushing it live.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
Eric Hession, president of sports and online gaming at Caesars, said the company terminated its relationship with the affiliate nationwide and alerted its other affiliates to pay close attention. The OCCC declined an LSR request to identify the affiliate involved in the fine.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
Caesars agreed to pay a $150,000 fine and conduct additional staff-level training to rectify the violation.
Caesars Drops Affiliate After Ohio Sports Betting Violations
OCCC: response is ‘model’ compliance
Ending the relationship with the offending affiliate is “the sort of model that we want to see when things like this occur,” Chairwoman June Taylor said.
Executive Director Matt Schuler agreed, calling affiliate marketers the “weakest link” in the advertising chain:
“If every, every licensee followed the path that…
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