Carlton Saffa, the chief market officer at Saracen Casino, wants online casinos legalized in Arkansas. Saffa believes it would benefit both customers and brick-and-mortar casinos. He also believes it could come with a unique perk: helping NIL collectives associated with the state’s major college athletic programs.
Saffa has gone on a local media tour in recent weeks, plugging a unique name, image, and likeness (NIL) funding idea that could benefit the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State. Saffa told Best of Arkansas Sports that Arkansas’ NIL collective contacted him about the idea of running 50-50 raffles through an app, with funding generated from the raffle partially benefiting NIL programs.
The raffles serve as a possible workaround to a gaming company working with an NIL collective. While some have donated to NIL collectives, including collectives benefitting Iowa and Iowa State athletes, student-athletes aren’t allowed to promote gambling products, per NCAA regulations.
For the Arkansas 50-50 raffle idea to happen, online games of chance need to be permitted in Arkansas. This would also mean legalizing online casino games. Saffa believes legalizing online casinos would move Arkansas gamblers away from using illegal online casino platforms and onto regulated platforms, while also paving the way for the lucrative NIL idea.
“We’ve been public since March about our desire to displace the unregulated offshore casinos operating wide-open in Arkansas,” Saffa said on X. “NIL idea wasn’t ours but we view it as a win-win that makes sense.”
Will it Happen?
Despite the push, there are still questions about how to legalize online casinos in Arkansas. One retail casino, Oaklawn, has voiced its reluctance to move forward with online casino gambling.
There are even questions within the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration about how online casinos could be allowed. Saffa previously suggested a regulatory change, but the DFA doesn’t believe that’s possible.
"We believe the proposed NIL raffle is not authorized under existing Arkansas law and could not be implemented with just a rule change,” the DFA’s Jim Hudson told THV11. “It’s also important to note the proposal is part of a broader request to allow casino gaming online. This would represent a major expansion of gaming in Arkansas and should not be rushed into without understanding its impact on our state. I share the concerns about foreign illegal gaming, and DFA is committed to working with our casino partners and law enforcement to address it.”
Skeptics suggested Saffa’s social-media posts about the NIL idea were simply him wanting to use a “trojan horse” to bring online casinos to Arkansas. His casino’s sports betting app, BetSaracen, is the most popular in the state. It’s likely Saracen Casino would massively benefit financially from online casino legalization.
Saffa responded to skeptics on X, saying the idea isn’t a “trojan horse” designed to usher along online casino legalization under the guise of an NIL benefit.
While Saffa has been vocal about his online casino legalization support, he’s also a proud Arkansas alumnus hopeful to help the school's NIL program. Saffa regularly voices his support for the Razorbacks’ athletic programs on social media.
Casinos and NIL
While the idea in Arkansas is particularly interesting, it’s not the first time casinos have tried to help NIL collectives.
UNLV used a basketball half-court shot promotion in March to couple NIL and casinos without casinos directly donating to a collective. The promotion allowed fans to enter a drawing to be picked to take a half-court shot (with a prize for a made shot). For every dollar donated to Friends of UNILV, a collective benefiting UNLV athletes, fans received one entry into the drawing to take the half-court shot. The Palms, a Vegas casino, offered vouchers for donors (up to $100) for food, beverages, and free play.
The creative marketing tactic used a casino voucher to help incentivize donations to the collective.
UNLV’s NIL efforts have seemingly been particularly successful for a Group of Five/mid-major school. The Rebels retained star wide receiver Ricky White this offseason, and they’re expected to contend for the Mountain West title on the gridiron after a nine-win season in 2023.
On the basketball court, advanced metrics website Barttorvik.com projects UNLV’s men’s team to be a top-100 program in 2025. Head coach Kevin Kruger told the Las Vegas Sun he’s fully committed to casinos helping the program’s NIL funding.
“I think the more we can continue to marry the two and continue to merge the casinos and the supporters of this city with UNLV, the better,” Kruger told the publication.
As collectives look for creative ways to engage donors, it’s possible other collectives across the U.S. lean into working with casinos. For UNLV’s NIL collective, the connection arguably makes the most sense of any in the country, given Las Vegas’ connection to casinos and gambling.
