DraftKings announced that it will partner with the American Gaming Association (AGA) to promote the trade group’s “Have a Game Plan, Bet Responsibly” public service campaign, and will apply it to many company-owned channels, including its retail gaming properties, to promote responsible gaming.
The partnership marks the first time in the industry that the AGA’s campaign will appear in a national retail sportsbook setting. Boston-based DraftKings said the campaign will appear in all ten of the company’s retail sportsbooks across the country.
“Customer safety is paramount, and we are confident that implementing Have a Game Plan alongside our own responsible gaming messaging and tools will enable us to increase customer exposure to responsible gaming practices and ultimately foster safer play,” Christine Thurmond, DraftKings’ Director of Responsible Gaming, said in a statement.
The AGA campaign is designed to raise awareness of problem gambling by educating consumers on the basics of responsible sports betting. Part of the strategy includes signage that shows patrons how to recognize the signs of problem gambling and illustrates behaviors and best practices that are common in responsible sports betting.
Under its partnership with the AGA, DraftKings will post such signage, including physical and electronic posters, at its retail properties. The company operates retail sportsbooks in seven states: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and New York.
DraftKings said it plans to incorporate messaging from the AGA’s campaign into channels it owns outside of its retail sportsbooks, through digital marketing and social media. The company said it also plans to place AGA’s content alongside its own responsible gaming campaign, “It’s More Fun When It’s for Fun,” which has a similar goal of educating and protecting consumers.
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, DraftKings began using its campaign slogan last March and filed a trademark application for it in April. The company said its campaign starts with the first deposit into its mobile sportsbook and continues through regular updates thereafter.
The partnership between the AGA and DraftKings appears to cover the company’s sports betting and casino operations but not fantasy sports.
In the US, the company’s sportsbook is live with mobile and/or retail operations in 14 states: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. DraftKings is the official daily fantasy partner to MLB, NASCAR, the NFL, the PGA Tour and the UFC, is an authorized gaming operator for MLB and the NBA, and also serves as an official betting operator for the PGA Tour and the official betting operator for the UFC.
DraftKings online casino is offered in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
DraftKings and the AGA are also contributors to the International Center for Responsible Gaming’s Fund to Support Research on Sports Wagering. The company’s products include tools designed to protect consumers and foster responsible play, including cooling-off periods, limit setting and self-exclusion.
FanDuel was the first sportsbook to join the AGA’s campaign when it did so last March. The AGA told pokerfuse that its other partners in the campaign include four leagues (NASCAR, the PGA Tour, the NHL and the UFC), and two sports teams (the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which includes the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the NBA’s Washington Wizards).
Sightline Payments, an online payment technology provider in the igaming industry, is also a partner.
