Sportsbooks' agreements with colleges are under more scrutiny as legal sports betting continues to grow.
One such partnership surrounds Michigan State and Caesars, as a new petition hopes to convince the school to back out of its lucrative agreement with the popular operator.
The petition
The faculty and staff request has connected the recent tragedy at MSU with a greater need to spot and prevent a growing mental health crisis, which includes problem gambling.
“If we create even one problem gambler that will be too many, but probably we are creating hundreds of them," said the petition.
The authors ultimately want the school to cancel its deal with Caesars and give up the reported $8.4 million that Michigan State agreed to in order to protect its students.
“Taking a page from the stereotypical image of a drug pusher, Caesars and the other large online gambling companies lure customers with free bets worth hundreds of dollars.”
What’s in the partnership?
The deal was announced last year and gave Caesars exclusive “fan engagement opportunities” and a VIP seating area. On top of that, Caesars-related advertisements will be shown inside Spartan Stadium and online.
However, college partnerships are tricky since around half of the student body is underage and cannot legally participate in Michigan sports betting. Caesars — like other online betting sites facing similar circumstances — included an expansion of responsible gambling education to the deal.
AGA’s new standards
The American Gaming Association previously updated its “Responsible Marketing Code for Sports Wagering", and now the organization wants to prohibit college partnerships that sports wagering activity to the current student body.
The American Gaming Association just announced updates to its "Responsible Marketing Code for Sports Wagering," including bans on college partnerships promoting betting activity (unless it's to alums), sportsbook NIL deals, and on the use of "risk free" in advertising: pic.twitter.com/pDjRJu2saR
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) March 28, 2023
Regarding this update, the petition notes that "Caesars is not a member of the AGA, and MSU was already disregarding the previous code of conduct.”
