Following a recent announcement, DraftKings revealed that the company has made plans to start promoting “Have A Game Plan.® Bet Responsibly™,” in collaboration with the American Gaming Association (AGA). A brainchild of the AGA, the campaign has been launched to cater to the rising number of gambling enthusiasts promoting the industry.
The aim of the campaign is to instill a culture of responsible and safe play. Drafting will be spreading the message of the campaign through the various channels under the same brand. The campaign will be felt at the grassroots because it incorporates retail outlets owned by DraftKings. With this collaboration, the gambling industry as a whole will be treated to a national campaign whose main target is to influence a markets perspective from the bottom-up.
Currently, DraftKings has a network of ten retail sportsbooks spread across the country and the effects of the campaign will be felt by all guests. According to the Director of Responsible Gaming at DraftKings, Christine Thurmond, the public service campaign that AGA is running is a demonstration of their forward thinking.
Thurmond expresses confidence that the Have A Game Plan campaign is going to complement the efforts of DraftKings in facilitating responsible gaming. The collaborative efforts will enhance customer enlightenment on responsible gaming structures which will in the long run promote safe play.
The AGA and industry partners will be using Have a Game Plan to educate their clients on what the industry requires of them. Problem gambling has negatively affected the lives of so many people whose journey into gambling started out as a thrilling pass time. This campaign and others like it are necessary in bringing a healthy balance between gambling as a sport and real life.
In line with the collaborative efforts in this joint initiative, DraftKings will be using signage relaying the message of safe gambling in its media messages. Apart from the visual aspects of the campaign which include electronic and physical material, there will also be promotional materials posted inside the retail establishments.
Every one of these materials has been carefully designed to communicate the message of responsible gambling to the guests and patrons of DraftKings betting outlets. The Have a Game Plan is the best way that AGA and their partners have come up with to enlighten gambling consumers on the value of responsible gaming.
The lessons begin with how patrons can identify the signs of irresponsible gambling in them and others. It is an intensive program that contains educational materials for best behaviors to maintain to cut bad habits and practices. DraftKings has a large network of sportsbooks that operate in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Mississippi and New Hampshire.
According to the Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications at AGA, Casey Clark, the American gaming industry requires some level of responsibility to remain a healthy space for competition and economic growth. The American market now boasts of over 100 million adults that can legally take part in gambling related activities. It is important to educate the masses on the importance of responsible gaming considering that betting is a leisure activity that many people would turn to for amusement.
Clark is grateful to the many organizations that are involved in activities that encourage players to stay safe in the betting arena. To DraftKings especially, the AGA management is happy to have a partner that has decided to walk with them in the journey to ensuring that betting is safe and responsible.
Besides the sportsbooks of which DraftKings has been a good representative, Have A Game Plan will also incorporate some promotional materials into its channels. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are effective avenues for passing mass messages. Through these channels, the company has been inculcating responsible behaviors among customers that will help them remain energetic throughout their membership.
The program starts at the very instant that a customer creates a gambling account in any of the sportsbooks in New Jersey. Many platforms offer bonuses on the initial deposit that a player makes into their account particularly when it is done through a mobile phone sportsbook. In addition to the project that DraftKings is doing with AGA, the betting provider will also be promoting the “It’s More Fun When It’s For Fun” slogan to promote safe play through digital media platforms.
The initiative is supposed to run for the long term and it is expected that regular content will be released courtesy of DraftKings to communicate suitable tools and information that will help protect players. The mission of DraftKings as far as responsible gaming is concerned is to prevent players from falling into harm. Vulnerable populations are at a unique risk of falling victim to problem gambling but the industry giants like AGA and DraftKings are trying to steer them in the right direction through education and technology.
State of the art technology, resources focused at changing the perception of consumers and employees and proper training are the key pillars of a healthy gambling population. Evidence-based support for responsible gaming will act as the measuring stick to gauge whether the program is effective and how much change needs to be applied to earn more results. Some of the common safe play practices that bettors can adopt to avoid falling victim to problem gambling include self-exclusion, cooling off periods and setting limits.
Conclusion
So far, the Have A Game Plan campaign has had a positive response in the gaming market as a whole. There has been a shared belief in the sports betting space that the gambling habit can become toxic if left uncontrolled over long periods of time. Although DraftKings seems to be at the forefront of this effort, it is not the only company that is concerned about the problem of safe gaming. Other notable sports organizations that are involved in the movement are NASCAR, PGA TOUR and UFC.
