Seth Palansky was reading a story about legal sports betting arriving in North Carolina when he noticed something odd. Also displayed on the website were banners with links to so-called “Top 5” online sportsbooks.
All of them were illegal sites.
“If you were thinking, ‘I’m in North Carolina, it’s coming here, I’m going to be able to place a bet,’ where are you apt to go based on reading this story?” says Palansky, vice president of corporate social responsibility and communication for Conscious Gaming.
Conscious Gaming’s Bettor Safe, a new initiative recently launched with sites dedicated to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, hopes to emphasize the distinctions between legal and illegal gaming sites.
“It’s important for bettors to be educated about what the differences are,” Palansky says.
A nonprofit organization, Conscious Gaming is designed to educate bettors about the risks of gambling on illegal websites and the importance of using legal and regulated gaming options. Founded by GeoComply, a supplier of geolocation and compliances services to online-gaming operators, Conscious Gaming uses the same technology to advance its missions.
Because states can regulate bettors only inside their borders, geolocation helps track where bets are being made.
“There are various ways to triangulate and ensure the user is indeed inside the state border,” Palansky says.
The Bettor Safe campaign was launched in early March, specifically with one upcoming event in mind. The NCAA’s men’s basketball tournament, popularly known as March Madness, often appeals to college students who might not otherwise be bettors and not have the most sophisticated approach to online betting sites.
“The college-age group is a prime target market to be educated on this,” Palansky says. “They typically hear about it from friends or older siblings and trust that information and don’t seek out more on their own.”
The two states with dedicated Bettor Safe websites, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are often targets of illegal online betting sites. Both states have legalized igaming, in addition to online sports betting and poker. The Bettor Safe campaign is designed to educate about each of those gaming options.
“We didn’t want to go to a state that was focused on just one category,” Palansky says. “That said, ultimately, Bettor Safe is adaptable, but can rule out (illegal sites) anywhere in the U.S.”
According to Palansky, the Bettor Safe campaign received broad support from regulators and operators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, although some gaming operators will promote Bettor Safe throughout March Madness, the nonprofit isn’t seeking partnerships with gaming companies.
“We’re not taking dollars from the gaming industry,” Palansky says. “We thought it was important to keep this as an initiative that came from us as a non-profit.
“Conscious Gaming is about consumer protection,” Palansky adds. “We’re not encouraging folks to gamble per se, but if they do, we want them to gamble where they’re protected.”
