Horseshoe Casino Sponsoring United Center Visitors Locker Room

The visitors locker room at the United Center is sponsored by Horseshoe Casino, according to Greg Couch of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Bulls Exec VP/Business Operations Steve Schanwald said the NBA "approves the selling of advertising to casinos as long as that casino does not have a sports book. There is no sports betting at the Horseshoe Casino, and we appreciate their advertising support.”  Schanwald added, “A recent trend is the NBA is to sell advertising in the visitors locker rooms, and many teams in professional sports have, for many years now, accepted advertising from legalized casinos.” However, Clippers F Corey Maggette said, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” NBA VP/Basketball Communications Tim Frank said of the league allowing casino sponsorships, “The landscape with gambling has changed very much in America, and we have allowed our teams to change along with it.” When asked if the league was hypocritical in its position considering the Tim Donaghy scandal, Frank said, “There’s clearly a line of delineation between what Donaghy did and having a marketing deal. What he did is illegal.” But Couch writes the league “needs to separate itself from the gambling culture.” Couch: “It’s not a credible argument to approve of casinos that don’t have sports betting but condemn the ones that do” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/9).