PokerStars Sponsors Hockey Player
One of the best hokey players around, Mats Sundin has recently signed on to
promote an online casino like website that has caused a little bit of
controversy around the topic. Some of the viewers of the advertisement that
features their hockey hero scooping up winnings from what seems to be from
playing at an internet gambling website did not respond very well to it. The tag
line for the commercial is “Same buzz, different game”. The website that Mats
Sundin is promoting is a entertainment gambling website that is absolutely free
and not like all other online casinos. PokerStars.net is the website that is now
sponsoring the hockey player as one of its all star players. One of the big
objections that people have with de ad is that there is absolutely no clear
connection between hockey and poker.
Once claims were said that Sundin was involved with an online casino, the
National Hockey League quickly jumped up to his defense. They also said in a
statement that there is no money needed to play on the website therefore it is
not like other online casinos which makes it perfectly legal for Sundin to
promote the website. There are other hockey clubs that have similar deals, like
the Toronto Maple Leafs and their sponsorship deal with the same website,
PokerStars.net. The NHL does want people to know that they are aware and respect
the fact that online casinos and internet gambling are illegal in both the
United States and Canada. Sponsorships from websites that exchange money for
gambling are not allowed by the regulations that the NHL has set up.
The deputy commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly spoke with the Vancuver Sun about
the alleged online casino debacle. He said, "The NHL has no objection with Mats
having a relationship with and endorsing the free, educational website
PokerStars.net. Many of our Clubs have similar relationships." Som claim that
these websites are just gateways to online casinos. Chris Costigan, the founder
and editor of Gambling911.com said, "Once people are on their dot-net site, the
operators hope they can pull them into the real-cash poker site and get them to
deposit real money."