Friday, January 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NFL ADVERTISING FLAP: League: Policy bars bet-linked ads

Experts say enforcement hit or miss

The National Football League by contract prohibits all advertising for casinos, sports betting and Las Vegas during all NFL events on any network affiliate as well as the networks themselves.

"It's in our contracts with the networks. They stipulate that the network will not accept, nor will their affiliates accept any advertising that relates to gambling, sports betting or Las Vegas," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Thursday.

The sales managers at the CBS and ABC affiliates in Las Vegas, KLAS-Channel 8 and KTNV-Channel 13, respectively, said they regularly get memoranda from the networks with instructions discouraging the airing of any such advertising during any NFL games.

The NFL's long-standing policy of trying to distance itself from gambling-related ads erupted into a public feud this week after Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority disclosed that the league had rejected the authority's request to buy advertising spots during this year's Super Bowl.

At least one Las Vegas-based gaming company has been blocked by the NFL stance in the past.

Harrah's Entertainment has tried in the past to run spot ads in local markets during NFL events including the Super Bowl and has been turned down, spokesman David Strow said.

"We don't buy local advertising during any NFL games, nor could we if we wanted to because the NFL discourages local ad purchases by casino operators," he said.

The Dallas-based advertising agency for Harrah's, TLP Media, has had conversations with local stations and has been told the NFL will not permit such advertising, Strow said, adding that the NFL is the only sports league to have such a policy.

The policy of not accepting casino, sports betting or Las Vegas advertising has been part of the NFL contracts with the networks since at least 1970, McCarthy said.

There are, however, "ambushes" from time to time when such advertising is accepted by local affiliates both during the Super Bowl and other NFL events.

"Whenever that happens, we make every effort to let the networks know our displeasure and pass it on to their affiliates," he said. "When we find out, we work with the networks which work with (network) owned and other affiliates to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Ray Brown, president of Shonkwiler Marcoux Advertising, said the NFL ban has been a major issue for the gaming industry for years.

"We've never been able to get to the bottom of it. They don't have a problem selling view package rights in the casinos. They charge fees for public viewing, but they deny us being able to advertise to those very same market segments," he said.

Some local casinos have had better luck breaking through the NFL defenses, though.

Tom Nieman, vice president of the Hall Gaming Group, said last year Green Valley Ranch ran advertising during the local break of the Super Bowl, and he said Hall Communications has had no problems buying ad time during other NFL events.

John Schadler, managing partner in Schadler Kramer Group Advertising, the ad agency for MGM Mirage, said when The Mirage opened in 1989 and Treasure Island opened in 1993, the casinos ran spot advertisements in local markets that aired during NFL events.

Also, in 1982, the Golden Nugget Atlantic City bought advertising time during the Super Bowl in the New York and Philadelphia markets.

"We actually had sponsorships, billboards, with the announcer saying the game is brought to you by Golden Nugget Atlantic City and Coors (Brewing)," Schadler said.

Billy Vassiliadis, president of R&R Partners, which handles the Las Vegas convention authority's contract to promote the city nationally, agreed that the NFL policy is very hit or miss.

In 1999, the authority ran spot ads with local affiliates during the Super Bowl in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis, and in 2001 it bought time in 13 cities during the Super Bowl, he said. The authority tried to run its ads again this year.

"They're tremendous ads and the NFL has been very hit or miss," Vassiliadis said. "We know the NFL frowns on gaming, but we've been successful more than we haven't getting spots on the air."

Even in those instances, however, the stations have wanted to make sure there weren't references to gaming in the advertisements, Vassiliadis said.

"At least, the NFL has been inconsistent. At most, it's hypocritical," he said.

The convention authority hoped to air some of its new ads, which were unveiled earlier this week, to promote Las Vegas during the Jan. 26 Super Bowl as part of its plans to help the city recover from the past year's slowdown.

The NFL's rejection has prompted some local officials, including Goodman, to consider suing the league.

McCarthy, however, suggested earlier this week that the city and authority have gotten exactly what they wanted from the flap.

"Someone came up with a strategic plan which has worked quite well," McCarthy said. "They made a calculated risk to come up with a spot or series of spots knowing that the NFL would turn it down, and then turned around and publicized their efforts (to gain) more exposure for the city of Las Vegas than if the spot had actually run in the game."