Plunderland

About Plunderland

A yes for jobs, a yes for economic opportunity, a yes to support our community,” the narrator says during the commercial. “A new casino would have a positive impact on our county, and we have the power to make sure it lands here, where our community can benefit.”

There’s also opposition to a casino in Allen County. Last year, a group of anonymous business owners, residents, and faith leaders assembled to launch Save Fort Wayne. The political action group says a casino “creates a net loss” by increasing addiction and crime.

The group’s website features an interactive slot machine where the spin always lands on an alleged negative consequence such as “addiction,” “bankruptcies,” “divorces,” “mental health issues,” “fatal accidents,” “child neglect,” “human trafficking,” and “poverty.”

About Plunderland

The report singled out several marketing tactics which had been flagged as particuarly concerning.

The first was direct marketing (emails, texts, push notifications). Citing randomised studies, the committee noted that limiting direct marketing resulted in reduced betting and fewer short-term harms. 

Referencing an Australian study on direct marketing and its link to gambling harms, Dr Philip Newall, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol noted that “causality was established by getting a random subset of participants to opt-out of receiving direct marketing offers”.

About Plunderland

The restriction does not extend to strictly institutional communication made through the authorised operator’s own official channels, such as websites, apps, internal platform areas and customer service channels. In these spaces, information should be limited to company identification, official channels, access rules, self-exclusion and blocking mechanisms and mandatory warnings.

These channels may not contain promises of winnings, bonuses, invitations to bet, boosting or features designed to attract and retain user attention. The operator will also be responsible for the actions of affiliates, agencies, influencers, and other third parties who are paid or incentivised for commercial promotion. 

Sponsorship by betting companies would be prohibited for clubs and other sports entities, federations, leagues, competitions, sports broadcasts, cultural events, shows, educational and social projects, philanthropic entities, civil society organisations, political parties, candidates and election campaigns, as well as digital influencers, athletes, artists and celebrities.