UK regulator faces ‘significant’ pressure to ban gambling advertising

February 5, 2019 2:34 PM
  • Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports
February 5, 2019 2:34 PM
  • Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports

Advertising regulators in the United Kingdom are fending off significant pressure to enact a total ban of gambling advertising.

Story continues below

Advertising Standards Authority regulatory policy executive Andrew Taylor told gambling executives at ICE Vox on Tuesday that, “there is a significant call for an outright ban on gambling advertising” in the UK.

In response to the renewed scrutiny, the ASA will publish updated guidance on the protection of under 18-year-olds next week.

The regulator is also awaiting the results of research from the UK government and responsible gambling charity GambleAware before launching a large-scale review, which is expected at the end of the year.

The mounting pressure comes off the back of a heavy TV advertising presence during the World Cup and a simultaneous clamp down elsewhere in Europe.

Notably, gambling advertising was banned completely in Italy last summer. Stefano Zapponini, president of Italian gambling trade body Confindustria Sistema Gioco Italia, told the same audience he fears outright bans increase the risk to consumers.

“By preventing a clear distinction between legal and illegal operators, the players might be directed to the illegal offers, where there are neither limits nor controls and where the risk of gambling addiction is higher,” he said.

Returning to the UK, Taylor said the ASA’s role was to “stop irresponsible advertising.” As such he said an outright ban was unlikely unless the UK government amended the Gambling Act to reflect such a move.

“If its legally available you should be allowed to be advertising it, as long as it is responsible,” he said.

However, Taylor warned operators to be alive to imminent changes and highlighted easy wins for those wanting to improve their regulatory compliance in the advertising space.

“One of the things that goes under the radar but speaks to that responsibility angle, is free bet bonus offers”, he said.

“It’s not about responsibility and consumer protection it’s about misleading advertising, it’s about core consumer protection. You offer something that says free but there’s a catch – it’s not free is it? We see too much of that.”

Head of casino at Soft2Bet Teodora Breskovska welcomed some tightening of the rules around advertising. She said the industry was too reliant on aggressive advertising campaigns as a way to achieve differentiation.

“Commercially it’s not good for the casino, it’s very expensive to acquire customers that way and that customer is not loyal to you,” she said.

“The moment an operator provides the customer a completely new way of interacting with the product, an experience they cannot have in a different company – this is when advertising and acquisition will change dramatically. This will be a new era in the industry.”