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Members of the state gaming fee are elevating crimson flags concerning the connections between the homeowners of Plainridge Park On line casino in Plainville, which is making use of for a sports activities betting license, and Barstool Sports activities.
Massachusetts lawmakers permitted laws to legalize sports activities betting earlier this yr, and regulators hope to make such betting a actuality on the state’s three casinos before the Super Bowl next February. Different choices, together with cell sports activities betting, might come within the weeks and months after.
However at a gathering of the fee on Tuesday, members of the fee questioned representatives of Penn Leisure, the father or mother firm of Plainridge Park, about its relationship with Barstool Sports activities to assist promote sports activities betting. Penn purchased preliminary stakes of Barstool in 2020 and recently moved to completely purchase the corporate for $387 million. The deal is about to be accomplished early subsequent yr.
Via the partnership, Barstool has gotten its personal sports-betting app and gotten branding inside Penn casinos. However the firm was additionally the topic of a latest New York Times story highlighting the non-public playing problems with Barstool founder David Portnoy, who has beforehand reported accusations of sexual misconduct in opposition to him. The model’s push to enchantment to a youthful demographic has turn into a priority for state regulators.
At a gathering on Tuesday, Commissioner Eileen O’Brien raised questions concerning the suitability of Barstool to be linked to sports activities betting within the state.
“You are gonna have a Barstool’s-branded sports activities bar on the premises, in line with the proposition that you simply guys are placing ahead,” she stated. “And I am involved about a few of the historic advertising related to Barstool.”
Chair Cathy Judd-Stein backed up these questions, saying that regulators are actually at a crossroads due to the timing of the Occasions article, which highlighted the promotion of playing conduct by folks in Barstool’s realm that critics say is irresponsible.
“So now now we have an obligation to reconcile what may be very accessible publicly as to Barstool and actually the numerous persona connected to Barstool and what we’re gonna do about it as we take into consideration this software,” she stated.
Cliff Hawkins/Getty Photos
She identified that, apart from the difficulty with Barstool, Penn’s presentation on accountable gaming was “glorious.”
North Grounsell, the final supervisor at Plainridge Park, stated that Barstool’s personalities do not simply spotlight the advantages of sports activities betting, pointing to the corporate’s posts about shedding cash on bets.
Erin Chamberlin, the senior vp of regional operations for Penn, together with Massachusetts and Maine, stated that Barstool’s staff have teamed up with Penn to speak concerning the significance of betting responsibly.
“I’ve seen that it cuts via, I imagine, numerous the muddle, I’d say, when it comes to these promoting alternatives as properly,” she stated. “It is a very progressive method to accountable gaming. It speaks to youthful folks in a distinct sort of voice that I feel resonates with them and actually makes it stand out just a little bit in a different way.”
The fee postponed a vote on granting the sports activities betting software to Plainridge Park to a later date.
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