Ronn TorossianRonn Torossian

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in November sent cease and desist letters to online fantasy sports betting sites DraftKings and FanDuel, ordering them to halt all business operations in New York State under the cause that such operations were in violation of laws prohibiting gambling on games of chance. This leaves owners of other online sports betting businesses scrambling to figure out if they’re next — and if not, what this turn of events means for their business. But a fact remains: every event is an opportunity for PR, even if it doesn’t appear to bode well for your business on the surface.

Put another way: a lemon has a chance to make a glass of lemonade. It’s no different here with the plight of FanDuel and DraftKings and the subsequent bad press regarding online sports betting. If you frame your response right, you can turn this bad news for unfortunates in your industry into a positive opportunity for your own online sports betting business in the form of boosting your existing members’ morale (and their participation and commitment) and attracting new members to join in the fun.

Focus on skill

As noted in the cause for Schneiderman’s cease and desist letters, the legal distinction at issue here is primarily one between skill and luck. That will be the central topic of discussion during the forthcoming battles ensuing from these events: whether online sports betting qualifies more as a game of skill or a game of luck. Therefore, that makes this the perfect time for you to highlight all the aspects of online sports betting (and on your site in particular) that involve skill.

You can highlight the “skill” aspect of your offerings in both your advertising and your content. Here are a few suggestions to get your mental wheels turning:

• Publish new tutorials on how to develop each of the skills required to win at online sports betting.

• Instead of all your images showing people winning huge sums of money, consider using some images in your ads that show people thinking, analyzing stats and comparing players.

• Release new widgets/apps/features etc. that empower users to analyze stats on an even deeper level.

• Profile big winners on your site telling stories of how they accomplished their achievement, focusing specifically on the elements of skill involved in their wins.

• Release a poll or survey asking members to rate which skills they think are most important for succeeding at online sports betting.

Give your support, but maintain distance

Reacting to bad press in your industry requires a careful balance of flag-waving and line-drawing. That is to say: you must stand by those in your industry who are doing the same kinds of work you are doing, but you must also keep yourself from getting caught in their tailwind by distinguishing yourself from those currently in the cross-fire.

Therefore, start by showing support for the situation of DraftKings and FanDuel. If given the opportunity, express your hope that the two sides can see a way to solve this problem. Avoid getting roped into too much discussion on the thorny issues at play in the debate, instead standing simply as one of many representatives of an industry that provides a legitimate and valued service. If pressured into addressing specifics you’d rather avoid, simply feign ignorance — protesting that you don’t know enough about the specifics of this particular legal situation to feel comfortable going too deeply into it. But add that you would be more than happy to delve into specifics about your own business.

This gives you the opportunity to take charge of the conversation and turn it to what distinguishes your online sports betting business from those currently under fire. Maybe it’s a difference in your particular offerings (Draft Kings and Fan Duel offer fantasy sports betting; if this is not one of your offerings, be clear in pointing this out.) Maybe it’s the localities you serve or from which you operate. Or your membership criteria. Or the size of your member base. Or your payment procedures. Whatever it is, be clear with the press and the public on all that makes you different from the companies currently under attack, which will in turn make it increasingly hard for the press and public to draw disparaging comparisons between you.

Clean up your advertising

An additional charge levied by the NY Attorney General against DraftKings and FanDuel accused them of misleading New York residents in their advertising with statements that implied unrealistic probabilities of winning. Take this as a warning sign for you to ensure that your own advertising doesn’t mislead viewers with promises on which you can’t deliver. Review all your ads and make sure that you can support every word and every image with cold, hard facts. Then hope that, unlike FanDuel and DraftKings, you’ll never have to.

If you know your business and customers well enough, you can take almost any bad press and turn it to your advantage. In the case of the bad press regarding the recent legal issues with online sports betting, this means highlighting the skill involved to win in the games you offer, supporting your industry while distinguishing yourself from those businesses currently under attack and wiping all misleading statements and suggestions from your advertising. Remember, the harder you make it for a lawyer to build a case against you, the more likely that lawyer will be able to seek a more winnable case elsewhere.

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Ronn Torossian is CEO and Founder of 5W PR.