New Jersey OK's Celebrity Endorsements for Online Gambling

New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement is, once again, brainstorming new ways to help Garden State online operators attract new customers.
Among the recent proposals being studied by the Division is a measure that would allow online gambling operators to use celebrity pitchmen to endorse their products.
So what’s the big deal about hiring a famous person to endorse an online poker room? As is so often the case when viewing the regulatory side of the business, there’s more to the story than it would seem.
From a regulator’s point of view, the practice of hiring celebrities to actually play at a casino or poker room as part of their endorsement package is potentially problematic. Specifically, the state is worried about whether or not the celebrities would get to keep the money they win and, if not, how that money would be reported.
The use of celebrities to endorse casinos is already a well-established practice, but the celebs most casinos use are anything but A-listers.
That’s all according to plan Borgata senior vice president Joe Lupo told the Associated Press. He said the company currently uses pitchmen who are, “not Hollywood types.” That said, he is open to the idea of using big names to get players in the door.
The proposal for celebrity endorsements is one several ideas the DGE is looking at to improve traffic for Garden State online gambling sites. Other ideas include allowing players to fund social gaming accounts through their real money site accounts; and giving operators more freedom as to where they base their servers.