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It never really made any sense to me. The first time I heard about an arrangement between an online casino and a university, it was Michigan State in January 2022 when a deal made Caesars the “official and exclusive sports betting partner and iGaming partner of MSU Athletics.”
Why, I wondered, did a university where the vast majority of students are under the legal age to gamble, need a “betting partner?” And, more importantly, how does Caesars tell anyone with a straight face that it isn’t marketing its services to minors?
Now, predictably, these types of deals are blowing up in the faces of everyone involved. An industry that only recently came to be seen by legislators and the general public as acceptable is trading away the painstakingly earned respect for what? Signage in arenas? “VIP experiences” for preferred guests? A couple of dutiful stories in the local newspaper? And the schools? Well, shame on them for seeing piles of money and putting them ahead of the well-being of the kids they claim to be providing the tools to function well in the world.
Not. Worth. It.
Read more from the State of Play column:
- Unpopular Opinion: This Year’s March Madness Sucked
- Lifelong Gambler Breaks New Ground In Prestigious White House Appointment
- Annie Duke Has Moved On, And Poker Is Poorer For It
- $1
- Would Vegas ‘What Happens Here, Stays Here’ Campaign Happen Today?
- Legal Online Poker, Once All The Rage, Flirts With Irrelevance to bar “college partnerships that promote, market or advertise sports wagering activity” and “sportsbook NIL deals for amateur and college athletes.”
So far, all the action is happening on the school or legislative side. The University of Colorado canceled its deal with PointsBet. Maryland legislators are in the process of killing a PointsBet arrangement at the University of Maryland at College Park. Faculty at Michigan State have circulated a petition, and the interim president there seems inclined to find a way out of the Caesars deal. That they ever entertained these deals is baffling enough; I’m pretty sure they don’t do alcohol or weed partnerships.
Regardless, casinos, cut your losses here. Just step up and say, “You know, this is a bad idea we didn’t think through.” Any student who is a sports fan is going to see your messages elsewhere anyway.
Drop them all. Now. In unison. Show you mean it, are contrite. Otherwise, you may not like the ways lawmakers do it for you.
