From 911....
Christopher Costigan, Sports911.com
Costa Rica-based BetonSports.com has been known to paint up their own bus and drive into various stadiums across the U.S. Now they've taken the concept one step further by tacking their ads all over New York City buses, courtesy of the MTA.
"BetonSports wants to be the Coca Cola of online gambling," explained BetonSports CEO David Carruthers. "And we will make many friends and enemies along the way."
Carruthers isn't exactly holding back any punches in his pursuit to build legitimacy and encourage regulation in the world of online gambling.
"I've written to a number of U.S. Senators and will contact them personally by phone," Carruthers told Sports911.com. "(Our industry) is part of a natural evolution process and this needs to take place in the United States. Online gambling is a legitimate form of commerce."
Not according to New York State Attorney General, Elliott Spitzer, who in the past has indicted online payment processor PayPal for transferring money to and from offshore gambling houses.
While Spitzer may seem preoccupied these days with investigations into mutual funds and illegal trading agreements, the aggressive no-nonsense Attorney General has not lost site of his other pet peeve, online gambling.
Asked if his office and the MTA were at odds over these recent ads, Spitzer said "It would be a fair conclusion."
Last year New York City pressured the Taxi Commission into removing BetonSports ads from all cabs. They also pressured billboard companies to do the same.
The MTA, which is a government entity, does not appear to be as cooperative, especially after receiving a nice fat check. BetonSports is estimated to spend over a million dollars per month on print advertising alone during the busy football season.
"Unless they have broken the law, they are entitled to advertise," MTA spokesman Tom Kelly told the New York Post.
In the last two weeks, however, at least two states have issued subpoenas against website portals for advertising online gambling companies. One of the subpoenas was issued in Illinois, the only state that has incorporated a law against the promotion of online gambling. Reportedly, agents seized only records related to one advertiser, Carib Sports. Currently that sports book's three owners are under investigation for various money laundering activities in the state of Pennsylvania, though an indictment was not yet handed down.
Missouri has also reportedly taken action against at least one online casino information portal. This state has a long history of aggressively going after internet gaming operators. In 1997, then State Attorney General Jay Nixon indicted the owner of Sports International for neglecting to mention on its website that online gambling by Missouri residents may be considered unlawful.
In a subpoena obtained from the Internet Gaming News, the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, asks the operator to turn over all commercial and financial information from January 1, 1997 to the present related to the advertisement of online casinos and sports books. The subpoena suggests this portal has been in business for a number of years and even before the advent of online casino affiliate programs that only began to prosper in 1998. It also calls for the party to testify to the grand jury Oct. 29.
Internet Gaming News itself is based out of St. Charles, Missouri and started operating in 1997 as part of the River City Group headed up by Sue Schneider. IGN does not accept advertising from online casinos.
The idea of "aiding and abetting" through the promotion of internet gambling companies has reared its ugly head in recent months, but with so many large enterprises like city newspapers, radio stations, Maxim Magazine, USA Today and even CBS Television through its Sportsline division accepting advertisements from offshore gaming enterprises over the years, the scope of such an investigation would be particularly overwhelming.
The uncertainty has many in the industry on edge, but at least one major broadcaster that runs online gambling ads isn't concerned, according to a piece that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal by columnist Kevin Smith.
A spokesperson with the Howard Stern Radio Show, one of the highest rated syndicated programs in the United States, said they haven't been served any subpoenas and aren't worried about it. The program is aired by Infinity Broadcasting and one if its sponsors is GoldenPalace.com.
The Howard Stern Radio Show also has as one of its sponsors, BetonSports.com.
The BoS campaign is already catching on with the mainstream media and sometimes it is not always intentional.
Popular local news station NY1 was covering a story on the streets of New York City when a bus carrying the BetonSports ad got stopped in traffic right behind its reporter for a one minute period, making for quite a backdrop and potentially several thousand dollars worth of free advertising since the story was recorded and broadcast throughout the day.
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so much for the gov getting tough with the portals.. Now they got it all over the NYC buses...
Christopher Costigan, Sports911.com
Costa Rica-based BetonSports.com has been known to paint up their own bus and drive into various stadiums across the U.S. Now they've taken the concept one step further by tacking their ads all over New York City buses, courtesy of the MTA.
"BetonSports wants to be the Coca Cola of online gambling," explained BetonSports CEO David Carruthers. "And we will make many friends and enemies along the way."
Carruthers isn't exactly holding back any punches in his pursuit to build legitimacy and encourage regulation in the world of online gambling.
"I've written to a number of U.S. Senators and will contact them personally by phone," Carruthers told Sports911.com. "(Our industry) is part of a natural evolution process and this needs to take place in the United States. Online gambling is a legitimate form of commerce."
Not according to New York State Attorney General, Elliott Spitzer, who in the past has indicted online payment processor PayPal for transferring money to and from offshore gambling houses.
While Spitzer may seem preoccupied these days with investigations into mutual funds and illegal trading agreements, the aggressive no-nonsense Attorney General has not lost site of his other pet peeve, online gambling.
Asked if his office and the MTA were at odds over these recent ads, Spitzer said "It would be a fair conclusion."
Last year New York City pressured the Taxi Commission into removing BetonSports ads from all cabs. They also pressured billboard companies to do the same.
The MTA, which is a government entity, does not appear to be as cooperative, especially after receiving a nice fat check. BetonSports is estimated to spend over a million dollars per month on print advertising alone during the busy football season.
"Unless they have broken the law, they are entitled to advertise," MTA spokesman Tom Kelly told the New York Post.
In the last two weeks, however, at least two states have issued subpoenas against website portals for advertising online gambling companies. One of the subpoenas was issued in Illinois, the only state that has incorporated a law against the promotion of online gambling. Reportedly, agents seized only records related to one advertiser, Carib Sports. Currently that sports book's three owners are under investigation for various money laundering activities in the state of Pennsylvania, though an indictment was not yet handed down.
Missouri has also reportedly taken action against at least one online casino information portal. This state has a long history of aggressively going after internet gaming operators. In 1997, then State Attorney General Jay Nixon indicted the owner of Sports International for neglecting to mention on its website that online gambling by Missouri residents may be considered unlawful.
In a subpoena obtained from the Internet Gaming News, the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, asks the operator to turn over all commercial and financial information from January 1, 1997 to the present related to the advertisement of online casinos and sports books. The subpoena suggests this portal has been in business for a number of years and even before the advent of online casino affiliate programs that only began to prosper in 1998. It also calls for the party to testify to the grand jury Oct. 29.
Internet Gaming News itself is based out of St. Charles, Missouri and started operating in 1997 as part of the River City Group headed up by Sue Schneider. IGN does not accept advertising from online casinos.
The idea of "aiding and abetting" through the promotion of internet gambling companies has reared its ugly head in recent months, but with so many large enterprises like city newspapers, radio stations, Maxim Magazine, USA Today and even CBS Television through its Sportsline division accepting advertisements from offshore gaming enterprises over the years, the scope of such an investigation would be particularly overwhelming.
The uncertainty has many in the industry on edge, but at least one major broadcaster that runs online gambling ads isn't concerned, according to a piece that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal by columnist Kevin Smith.
A spokesperson with the Howard Stern Radio Show, one of the highest rated syndicated programs in the United States, said they haven't been served any subpoenas and aren't worried about it. The program is aired by Infinity Broadcasting and one if its sponsors is GoldenPalace.com.
The Howard Stern Radio Show also has as one of its sponsors, BetonSports.com.
The BoS campaign is already catching on with the mainstream media and sometimes it is not always intentional.
Popular local news station NY1 was covering a story on the streets of New York City when a bus carrying the BetonSports ad got stopped in traffic right behind its reporter for a one minute period, making for quite a backdrop and potentially several thousand dollars worth of free advertising since the story was recorded and broadcast throughout the day.
**********************
so much for the gov getting tough with the portals.. Now they got it all over the NYC buses...
