DraftKings, Penn Sports face hefty fines days after legalization of sports betting in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Ohio Casino Control Commission is not wasting any time letting the state's gaming industry know it's their house, their rules.

We issued guidance to the entire industry twice in the week before launch," its director of communication,Jessica Franks, said. "Reminding them about the rules of advertising. And the need for responsible gaming messages."

Sports betting became legal in Ohio at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

Now, two companies face fines.

The commission says DraftKings violated sports betting advertising by mailing about 2,500 advertisements directly addressed to individuals under the age of 21.

The company now faces a $350,000 fine.

Penn Sports Interactive, the parent company of Barstool Sports at Hollywood Casino, is now facing a $250,000 fine. The commission says it hosted a pregame show on the University of Toledo's campus and targeted underage bettors.

Part of this is similar occurrences have happened in other states as part of launch," Franks said. "There is this drive to capture market share. But that doesn't mean that the industry can disregard the very specific rules that we have in place, and the standards we have in place, particularly regarding responsible gaming."

And the commission isn't letting up. It plans to keep a close watch.

People can lodge complaints with us," Franks said. "We have received complaints from folks about the advertising practices. Some of them are self-reported by members of the industry. But we do have staff that are looking into these things. We don't monitor the content necessarily, but we do look for things like the responsible gaming messaging."

Both DraftKings and PSI have the right to request hearings on the matter, and the commission will vote on any action it takes in a public meeting.

WSYX reached out to DraftKings for comment about the alleged violation, but never heard back.

Penn Entertainment Senior VP of Public Affairs and Government Relations Eric Schippers provided this statement:

Nothing is more important to PENN than its gaming licenses and the positive, honest and transparent relationships that we maintain with our regulators. And we are deeply committed for both personal and professional reasons to responsible gaming and a culture of compliance.

The Barstool Sportsbook recently passed the Responsible Gambling Council’s RG Check. The RGC has been a leader in the prevention of problem gambling in Canada and globally for more than 35 years. Penn Interactive, the direct parent entity of Penn Sports Interactive, became one of the first U.S. operators to voluntarily go through the RGC’s exhaustive RG Check accreditation process. Notably, the RGC found “Penn Interactive’s overall approach to RG is comprehensive. A strong commitment to harm mitigation and prevention contributes to the quality of the program.” In addition, RGC found that “Penn Interactive’s RG policies document a clear commitment to prevent marketing materials that could be misleading. Potentially vulnerable players, including those who are underage or enrolled in exclusion, are appropriately considered.”

As it relates to the Ohio Casino Control Commission issuing a notice of violation to Penn Sports Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of PENN Entertainment, we look forward to having the opportunity to address the matter with the Ohio Casino Control Commission through its regulatory process. What happened was Barstool Sports held one of its College Football Shows on the campus of University of Toledo. While there is a live component, 90% of the audience views the program on YouTube and approximately 86 percent of those who view the program online are over the age of 25. The mistake PSI made in Ohio is it should have touched base with the Ohio regulators prior to the College Football Show, and it should have reviewed with them a message broadcast online that the Barstool Sportsbook plans to go live on January 1st. The Ohio Casino Control Commission considered that advertising on campus. Again, it was our mistake to not clear our activities with our regulators first.

Going forward, PENN and Barstool Sports have implemented a new policy for the 2023 season, whereby the Barstool Sports College Football Show will require live audience members to show proof of being 21+.