Sports betting radio ads prompt concerns
By Zack McMillin
zmcmillin@gomemphis.com
September 16, 2003
Regular listeners of sports talk radio in Memphis have begun hearing a new product advertised on local stations. Sports entities like the NCAA and the NBA are not happy about it.
The ads promoting online sports gambling that run locally on WHBQ-AM (560) and WMC-AM (790) have caught the attention of the NCAA and NBA. On Thursday, the NCAA asked the University of Memphis to tell WMC, its flagship station, to quit running the ads.
The U of M's contract with WMC says nothing about ads promoting online gambling and the NCAA doesn't have any legislation prohibiting an affiliated station from running them.
However, according to Bill Saum, the NCAA's chief of gambling enforcement, the association is advising member institutions to use their influence to stop the ads.
Sports gambling is illegal in Tennessee but the online gambling sites are typically run from nations like Curacao, The Netherlands and Costa Rica where sports gambling is legal.
"I did not know about it and we are going to stop it," said U of M athletic director R. C. Johnson, adding that WMC never asked the U of M if it had a problem with airing the ads.
On Thursday, U of M media relations director Bob Winn talked to Ron Martin, a producer at the station, about the U of M's concern and requested that WMC no longer carry the ads.
"R. C. asked me to call the station and strongly suggest they do not air these commercial spots and that they do not air them at all using personnel who do University of Memphis broadcasts," Winn said. "I strongly suggested that they do not air them at all, period."
Reached on Friday, WMC senior vice president Terry Wood said the station will continue to run the ads but Dave Woloshin, the Tigers' play-by-play broadcaster, will no longer do them.
Martin and Forrest Goodman, both of whom do many of the station's player interviews as well as the pregame and postgame shows, will continue doing the ads promoting online sports gambling.
The station receives money for running the ads and the announcers receive money for reading them.
"If the university asks me not to do these commercials I have no problem abiding by their wishes," said Woloshin.
Mike Golub, the Grizzlies' senior vice president for business operations, stopped short of saying his franchise would ask its flagship station WHBQ to quit airing the ads but did say he was "concerned" about them.
Eric Hasseltine, the on-air voice for the Grizzlies' pregame and halftime shows and a sideline reporter for TV broadcasts, has been doing ads promoting online gambling sites for WHBQ. Hasseltine is the co-host of a regular morning show on WHBQ. The radio station also carries syndicated broadcasts of Ole Miss games.
"Yes, we have serious concerns," Golub said. "If he is endorsing personally a gambling service we would not be comfortable."
Said Tim Frank, a spokesman for the NBA: "Our bottom line is that anyone who is representing a team should not be promoting a casino or operation that allows sports gambling."
Dave Greene, WHBQ's general manager, said Hasseltine is not personally endorsing anything because he does not claim to use the Web sites.
"There is a distinction and we have very strict policies and we don't let anyone say 'I personally use this product,' " Greene said. "Our policy follows the laws of the FCC and state that allow us to air these ads. It becomes a very difficult decision when you factor in the amount of money they are willing to offer."
As to how much money these online gambling sites are paying, Greene said: "It's the same rate but they offer to buy a lot of quantity."
Greene said WHBQ is careful not to run the spots during Ole Miss games, Grizzlies-related broadcasts or high school games.
Likewise, WMC's Wood said his station does not run its ads during U of M-related broadcasts.
Saum, who in March appeared before the U.S. Senate to appeal for tighter controls on Internet gambling, said he has only recently heard about university-affiliated stations running the ads promoting sports wagering on the Internet.
Saum said the proliferation of Internet sports gambling sites and the idea of radio stations accepting money from them troubles the NCAA for a variety of reasons.
"No. 1, we're talking about sending student-athletes and society as a whole a mixed message. No. 2, the (broadcasters) in these particular communities are usually high-profile people looked up to in the community. No. 3 is that they are in our locker rooms and at our practices."
Wood said his station deals with advertising agencies that represent the online gambling sites and rejected the idea his broadcasters would share any inside information with the online gambling entities.
"I told the NCAA that any information we have is going to be a part of our show anyway and passed along to the general public," Wood said.
Saum emphasized his issue is not that he believes broadcasters would do anything unscrupulous but accepting money from companies to promote online gambling creates the potential for wrongdoing.
He said the NCAA shall encourage member institutions to include language in new contracts that addresses such ads.
"I'm disappointed these (broadcasters) think it is OK," Saum said. "We can't legislate it but I wish these people would use common sense."
But Wood predicted the ads are here to stay.
"He's out of line with that comment," Wood said. "We are a revenue-driven business. . . . They can't dictate what we do."
By Zack McMillin
zmcmillin@gomemphis.com
September 16, 2003
Regular listeners of sports talk radio in Memphis have begun hearing a new product advertised on local stations. Sports entities like the NCAA and the NBA are not happy about it.
The ads promoting online sports gambling that run locally on WHBQ-AM (560) and WMC-AM (790) have caught the attention of the NCAA and NBA. On Thursday, the NCAA asked the University of Memphis to tell WMC, its flagship station, to quit running the ads.
The U of M's contract with WMC says nothing about ads promoting online gambling and the NCAA doesn't have any legislation prohibiting an affiliated station from running them.
However, according to Bill Saum, the NCAA's chief of gambling enforcement, the association is advising member institutions to use their influence to stop the ads.
Sports gambling is illegal in Tennessee but the online gambling sites are typically run from nations like Curacao, The Netherlands and Costa Rica where sports gambling is legal.
"I did not know about it and we are going to stop it," said U of M athletic director R. C. Johnson, adding that WMC never asked the U of M if it had a problem with airing the ads.
On Thursday, U of M media relations director Bob Winn talked to Ron Martin, a producer at the station, about the U of M's concern and requested that WMC no longer carry the ads.
"R. C. asked me to call the station and strongly suggest they do not air these commercial spots and that they do not air them at all using personnel who do University of Memphis broadcasts," Winn said. "I strongly suggested that they do not air them at all, period."
Reached on Friday, WMC senior vice president Terry Wood said the station will continue to run the ads but Dave Woloshin, the Tigers' play-by-play broadcaster, will no longer do them.
Martin and Forrest Goodman, both of whom do many of the station's player interviews as well as the pregame and postgame shows, will continue doing the ads promoting online sports gambling.
The station receives money for running the ads and the announcers receive money for reading them.
"If the university asks me not to do these commercials I have no problem abiding by their wishes," said Woloshin.
Mike Golub, the Grizzlies' senior vice president for business operations, stopped short of saying his franchise would ask its flagship station WHBQ to quit airing the ads but did say he was "concerned" about them.
Eric Hasseltine, the on-air voice for the Grizzlies' pregame and halftime shows and a sideline reporter for TV broadcasts, has been doing ads promoting online gambling sites for WHBQ. Hasseltine is the co-host of a regular morning show on WHBQ. The radio station also carries syndicated broadcasts of Ole Miss games.
"Yes, we have serious concerns," Golub said. "If he is endorsing personally a gambling service we would not be comfortable."
Said Tim Frank, a spokesman for the NBA: "Our bottom line is that anyone who is representing a team should not be promoting a casino or operation that allows sports gambling."
Dave Greene, WHBQ's general manager, said Hasseltine is not personally endorsing anything because he does not claim to use the Web sites.
"There is a distinction and we have very strict policies and we don't let anyone say 'I personally use this product,' " Greene said. "Our policy follows the laws of the FCC and state that allow us to air these ads. It becomes a very difficult decision when you factor in the amount of money they are willing to offer."
As to how much money these online gambling sites are paying, Greene said: "It's the same rate but they offer to buy a lot of quantity."
Greene said WHBQ is careful not to run the spots during Ole Miss games, Grizzlies-related broadcasts or high school games.
Likewise, WMC's Wood said his station does not run its ads during U of M-related broadcasts.
Saum, who in March appeared before the U.S. Senate to appeal for tighter controls on Internet gambling, said he has only recently heard about university-affiliated stations running the ads promoting sports wagering on the Internet.
Saum said the proliferation of Internet sports gambling sites and the idea of radio stations accepting money from them troubles the NCAA for a variety of reasons.
"No. 1, we're talking about sending student-athletes and society as a whole a mixed message. No. 2, the (broadcasters) in these particular communities are usually high-profile people looked up to in the community. No. 3 is that they are in our locker rooms and at our practices."
Wood said his station deals with advertising agencies that represent the online gambling sites and rejected the idea his broadcasters would share any inside information with the online gambling entities.
"I told the NCAA that any information we have is going to be a part of our show anyway and passed along to the general public," Wood said.
Saum emphasized his issue is not that he believes broadcasters would do anything unscrupulous but accepting money from companies to promote online gambling creates the potential for wrongdoing.
He said the NCAA shall encourage member institutions to include language in new contracts that addresses such ads.
"I'm disappointed these (broadcasters) think it is OK," Saum said. "We can't legislate it but I wish these people would use common sense."
But Wood predicted the ads are here to stay.
"He's out of line with that comment," Wood said. "We are a revenue-driven business. . . . They can't dictate what we do."
