ESPN Features Ad by Online Gambling Site
Even as some state authorities around the US concoct absurd interpretations of outmoded law to threaten Internet casinos, the nation's most popular sports news website and network is accepting sponsorship from an online gambling site. ESPN's horse racing coverage features a video ad for Youbet.com, an Internet gambling website handling racing from Churchill Downs, among other offerings.
"Sign up and get your first $25 bet free!" says the advertisement. "Youbet.com! You in?"
"Online gambling opponents decry the harm gaming sites pose to children, but somehow certain sites like Youbet are allowed to advertise on one of the most-watched networks for teenage boys Seems to be about who you know, not any moral issue," says OCA analyst Sherman Bradley.
.Accompanying the gaming commercial is not only the website, but an 888 phone number to call in bets, if one prefers. The ad seems to fly in the face of Minnesota's action this week, advising both ISPs and phone carriers to close down access to online gambling sites by state residents.
Kentucky also ignores Youbet.com's blatant Internet betting service while it tries to seize 141 online gambling site domain names. While Kentucky's double standard is expected, although illegal, as horse racing from Churchill Downs runs political gambling decisions in the state, Minnesota receives no revenue from either Youbet or Churchill Downs.
No comment was forthcoming by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety regarding whether Youbet's phone number would be stricken from local calling, or whether the website would be added to the list of Internet gaming sites doing business in Minnesota.
Leaders looking to prosecute online gambling sites have been seen as acting to protect tax revenues from leaving jurisdictions, but no reason for Minnesota to allow Youbet and TwinSpires to accept online gambling from residents has been disclosed.
