Bookies must be cautious about what type of content is employed, especially when it comes to player photos, including their likeness. Last week’s lawsuit by Major League Baseball (MLB) players against sports gambling websites such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and Bet365 is a stark illustration: unauthorized use of player likenesses can get you into hot water. Besides making sure the best content is being released, bookies must also provide a solid Pay Per Head (PPH) service to support their business.
The dangers of using images of players without permission
Clearly, sports fans love to gamble on their favorite players, however any sports gambling site should tread lightly when using these athletes in their marketing or platform images. Those lawsuits from the association of professional baseball players to betting companies highlight the need to pay homage to publicity rights — the legal capacity of people to control the commercial use of their person, name or likeness.
Companies like DraftKings and FanDuel used the images and names of nearly every active MLB player without proper authorization, the union charges. This usage was not to just report the sports of news but as a part of promoting business gaining user engagements and making sales. In fact, the players are now suing for compensation over the unlicensed use of their likenesses, as well as punitive damages.
The lesson for bookies is simple: Featuring a player’s image in ads or promotional material without permission can make for expensive lawsuits. It’s not just MLB players either — similaresuitshave been brought by NFL players over non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It’s safer to focus on generic images of sports events or teams unless you are publishing more specific content, such as injury reports or pre-game/post-game commentary, in which case using player names and images might be seen as informational and not promotional.
The Value of a Solid Pay Per Head System
Maintaining control over what appears on your betting site is the key, yet equally important is ensuring that it runs smoothly. This is when to make use of a trustworthy Pay Per Head (PPH). If you are a small bookmaker or a big wagering agent, a pay per head service provider will bring to you all the tools that you need to manage you players bets and transactions without any hassles.
The best PPH platform will provide you a stable and secure backend so you can concentrate on building your business rather than spending all your time hassling with the technical aspects. It does it all, from setting the odds to booking players and, yes, if you want to reduce your overhead even more you can outsource your customer service. The best part? What it does is give you the flexibility and scalability to be able to handle a tremendous number of additional users for big events like the Super Bowl or the World Cup without any headache.
A good PPH system not only helps to make your life easier as a bookie but it also adds value to the betting process for your sports betting clientele. No one wants a betting site that functions slowly or is prone to glitches, and in an industry as competitive as theirs (as anyone who has ever won a customer award will tell you) bettors will jump ship as soon as a site doesn’t meet their requirements. A quality PPH service can go a long way toward making sure that betting transactions are no more difficult nor time-consuming than they need to be, keeping your clients happy and committed to you.
LAW AND SOCIAL MEDIA 71 1/18/2018 6:20 PM 72 Maximizing the Yin—Minimizing the Yang By achieving a balance of legal compliance and user engagement, social media companies can, in fact, maximize the Yin and minimize the Yang.
Balancing Legal Compliance and User Engagement
Ultimately betting platforms have to decide between keeping users entertained or keeping the law in mind. Pilfering player images for unauthorised use may be a l/h way to grab attention, but it also carries enormous legal risks. As highlighted by the MLB suits, the problem isn’t limited to the janky ghettos of online betting; even major platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel are subject to these problems as well.
To be safe from potential legal threats, they have chosen to use generic images that could represent the sports bets like a football flying through the air or a crowd cheering a goal. It should only be used for player-specific content when it is necessary information wise e.g.- injury updates or pre-match analysis. This distinction is important when it comes to keeping your betting site on the safe side of the law.
With legal caution, powerful Pay Per Head services can make all the difference to making you look professional and well-run. It frees you to do what you do best, provide seamless betting and growing your business.
With those two priorities in mind—content with care and operations smooth as silk—this doesn’t just ensure you stay on the right side of the law, but you build a betting platform bettors trust and will continue coming back to.
Especially in a fast-changing field like sports betting, you’ll want to get out ahead. So with a good content plan and a great Pay Per Head, your betting site can flourish and be in compliance with industry standards.
