ESPN Running Online Gambling Ads
December 10, 2009
There is a big brouhaha coming from sports fans and anyone else who watches ESPN these days. It would appear that the sports channel is allowing online gambling ads to be run, and this of course seems like a big old conflict of interest for them – considering they are a United States based company.
The sports channel is easily the most popular sports news website and network out there today. Anyone who wants to know anything about horse racing will watch the television and will turn to this channel. It is really considered the foremost expert in horse racing and sports information. However, some are confused by a recent programming choice that was made by the channel.
It would appear that they are allowing online gambling ads to be shown on their television channel. They have been running an advertisement for the online gambling company You Bet and no one seems to have any sort of problem with this except for those watching the channel. The advertisement has been geared towards the horse racing that can be found at Churchill Down in Kentucky, and this is confusing for many people who thought that online gambling was illegal in the state.
Their biggest concern is that you are advertising online gambling to children. They say that one of their biggest markets on the channel is teenage boys – and if they are watching a channel that is telling them how great online gambling is, chances are they are going to end up participating in it. They want the online gambling ads dropped, and there are many that feel the exact same way.
