NHL star's sponsorship with PokerStars questioned

[The Buzz]

Hockey fans have no doubt seen commercials of former Toronto Maple Leafs star Mats Sundin promoting PokerStars.net. Sundin made the commercials when he was a free agent.

Now he is with the Vancouver Canucks, and the commercial is still airing. PokerStars.net is a free, strictly-for-fun gambling website. The NHL had this to say about Sundins' endorsement.

"The NHL has no objection with Mats having a relationship with and endorsing the free, educational website PokerStars.net," NHL deputy commissioner told me in an e-mail this week.

He added that "many of our Clubs have similar relationships." (The Toronto Maple Leafs, for one, have a sponsorship arrangement with PokerStars.net.)

On the other hand, he said, "We do not allow endorsement or sponsorship relationships with 'for money' gaming websites of any kind."

But David Baines of the Vancouver Sun has problems with these types of sponsorships:

In my view, this is a specious argument. Industry experts agree the real purpose of these free "dot-net" gambling sites (nearly all the major online gambling companies have them) is to groom players for their "dot-com" cash gambling sites.

In this case, PokerStars.net serves as the introductory site for PokerStars.com, where the real business is transacted.

[casinojack]

Is intriguing. If he was in USA, for a USA team, would the opnions change ?