Coaching and marketing for sportsbooks don’t mix
The college football bowl season and end of the NFL regular season, heading into the playoffs, is a busy time for sportsbooks. With all of the wagering activity, state regulators, industry watchdogs, and the books themselves must also be on the lookout for anything that might run afoul of the rules. On Friday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) orders sportsbooks to stop taking bets on the Citrus Bowl because of the actions of, of all people, former NFL superstar quarterback Drew Brees.
The Citrus Bowl, takes place today in Orlando between the LSU Tigers and Purdue Boilermakers, the latter of which is where Brees played in college. The problem: Brees joined up with his alma mater as an interim assistant coach for the bowl game, but is also a pitchman for the sportsbook PointsBet.
In addition to halting new bets, the NJDGE ordered all bets placed after December 15 to be voided, as that was when Brees signed with Purdue. The NJDGE’s notice did not explicitly name Brees as the “individual associated with the Purdue Football team,” but ESPN’s sources said that that’s who it was.
The NJDGE cited statute 5:12A-11 (f), which forbids coaches, among others from, “any ownership interest in, control of, or otherwise be employed by an operator.”
PointsBet not only hired Brees to be a brand ambassador, but it also gave him an ownership stake in the company. A week after he signed with Purdue to help coach the Citrus Bowl, PointsBet announced that it was cutting ties with him.
“PointsBet would like to congratulate Drew Brees on his appointment as Interim Assistant Coach for the Purdue Boilermakers,” PointsBet said in a statement. “While this is an exciting next step in his career, after careful review, we have decided to end our ambassador partnership agreement with Drew. Regulatory and legal compliance, responsible gaming practices, and the integrity of legal sports betting are top priorities for our organization and this decision will allow us to uphold that commitment. We wish Drew all the best as he returns home to his alma mater.”
Short lived ambassadorship was not boring
This is not the first bit of controversy associated with Drew Brees in his short stint with PointsBet, though fortunately, neither instance was particularly serious. In a piece of viral marketing, or “mischief marketing” as it is sometimes called, PointsBet made it look like Brees was struck by lightning while filming an outdoor commercial for the sportsbook.
Many reporters and media outlets reposted the viral clip, which was originally disseminated by Venezuelan filmmaker Rafael Hernández, a friend of Ken Robertson, who is the head of The Tenth Man, the ad agency who came up with the stunt. For several hours, the sports world was left wondering if Brees was ok, but PointsBet eventually posted a video revealing it was just a marketing hoax.
