Football betting adverts from two gambling firms are banned by watchdog

Football betting adverts from two gambling firms are banned by watchdog after being branded ‘irresponsible’

  • Coral broke rules ‘free £5 bet every Sunday’ off for those who wagered £25 a day
  • The ASA ruled it was ‘likely to encourage’ people to gamble repeatedly
  • Concern is growing over way betting giants dominate Premier League football

Adverts from two gambling giants, which promoted betting on football and the value of Premier League stars, have been banned for being ‘irresponsible’.

Coral broke the rules with its offer of a ‘free £5 bet every Sunday’ for those who wagered at least £25 a day through the week. 

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled it was ‘likely to encourage’ people to gamble repeatedly and was likely to lead to ‘harmful’ behaviour.

Adverts from two gambling giants, which promoted betting on football and the value of Premier League stars, have been banned for being ‘irresponsible’ (stock photo)

Meanwhile BetIndex was found to have not made ‘the associated financial risks clear’ in its YouTube commercial which presented gambling on the value of football players as similar to a stock market investment.

The ASA said the promotion ‘created the impression that the product was a lucrative investment opportunity’ and concluded it was ‘irresponsible’. Both ads have been banned by the watchdog.

It said industry codes make clear that advertising ‘must not portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm’.

Coral said it did not think its ad encouraged frequent betting. And BetIndex said its commercial made the risks clear.

Coral broke the rules with its offer of a 'free £5 bet every Sunday' for those who wagered at least £25 a day through the week

Coral broke the rules with its offer of a ‘free £5 bet every Sunday’ for those who wagered at least £25 a day through the week

The ASA’s decision comes against a backdrop of growing concern over the way gambling giants are using their financial muscle to dominate sport, particularly Premier League football, and the airways through advertising at popular events.

The rules also state that companies should ‘avoid trivialising gambling and avoid the impression that the decision to gamble should be taken lightly, for example by not encouraging repetitive participation’.

However, the ASA has ruled that the Coral offer was ‘likely to encourage’ people to gamble repeatedly in order to get a ‘free £5 bet’ and therefore was likely to lead to behaviour that was ‘harmful’.

It said the BetIndex promotion appeared in a sponsored video entitled ‘How to make money from football index’, which was seen on the football magazine FourFourTwo’s YouTube channel in June.

The ASA's decision comes against a backdrop of growing concern over the way gambling giants are using their financial muscle to dominate sport, particularly Premier League football (stock photo)

The ASA’s decision comes against a backdrop of growing concern over the way gambling giants are using their financial muscle to dominate sport, particularly Premier League football (stock photo)

The video featured two representatives of The Football Index, with one claiming: ‘It’s basically the football stock market, where you buy and sell shares in footballers with real money and you can win daily pay-outs which we call dividends.’

The theory is that participants would gamble on the value of individual players based on their performance record on what was a ‘Football Stock Market’.

The ASA said the promotion ‘created the impression that the product was a lucrative investment opportunity’.

But in fact ‘it was a betting product and did not make the associated financial risks clear and concluded that it was irresponsible’.

The watchdog has banned both of the advertisements from appearing again and told the companies they must ensure future promotions do not encourage gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk