The operator said an independent production company filmed the episode, but accepted responsibility because the activation carried its branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa.- South African betting operator World Sports Betting (WSB)<\/strong> has withdrawn its \u201cBet to the Beat\u201d<\/strong> promotional campaign and apologised following public criticism over a gambling-related activation filmed inside a preschool classroom in Pretoria, South Africa. The betting operator confirmed that it had removed the promotional content from social media and redirected the remaining prize funds towards responsible gambling awareness initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The controversy followed the circulation of a video showing social media influencer Chad Jones<\/strong> entering a classroom at Cornwall Hill College Preschool with a branded prize wheel as part of the campaign. The footage showed preschool children cheering as their teacher participated in the competition. The teacher reportedly won R14,000 through the activation, which also involved demonstrating that she had an active World Sports Betting account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its public apology, WSB acknowledged that the classroom activation should never have taken place. The company said: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen your posts and comments being shared, and we want to address them directly. First and foremost, we are truly sorry. A \u2018Bet to the Beat\u2019 episode filmed in a classroom at Cornwall Hill College should never have happened, and it doesn\u2019t reflect the standards we hold ourselves to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n WSB explained that an independent production company had filmed the episode and that it was unaware of the location at the time. However, it accepted responsibility for the incident because the promotion carried its brand. It added: \u201cGambling marketing has no place in classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The operator subsequently withdrew from the \u201cBet to the Beat\u201d campaign with immediate effect and arranged for the promotional material to be removed from social media platforms. It also said it had begun strengthening its supplier code of conduct to prevent similar incidents involving external production and marketing partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further details about the activation emerged in an investigation published by amaBhungane on November 5. The report identified Alan Ford Productions<\/strong> as the company responsible for producing the campaign in partnership with the SABC3 morning programme Expresso Show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Producer Alan Ford<\/strong> said the production team had arranged the visit after the teacher was selected as a competition winner. The school principal had granted permission for the team to film on its premises and led the crew into the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ford said the production team had not intended to film the prize-wheel activity in front of the children but acknowledged that proceeding with the classroom activation was its decision. He accepted responsibility for the production oversight and apologised for the reputational damage caused to WSB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the report, the episode had been scheduled for broadcast but was withdrawn after WSB reviewed it. The footage subsequently appeared online after influencer Jones reportedly published it independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The investigation also reported that Cornwall Hill College had written to parents following the controversy. The school indicated that the gambling affiliation and promotional implications of the activity had not been adequately communicated when permission was granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The activation also drew criticism from the SARGF, which called for additional measures to protect children from gambling-related marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The operator said an independent production company filmed the episode, but accepted responsibility because the activation carried its branding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":24771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South African operator World Sports Betting (WSB) withdrew its \"Bet to the Beat\" campaign and issued an apology following public backlash over a promotional activation filmed inside a Pretoria preschool. The incident, involving an influencer and a branded prize wheel, prompted WSB to strengthen its supplier code of conduct and redirect prize funds to responsible gambling initiatives, despite an independent production company accepting responsibility for the location choice.","focusai_entities":"World Sports Betting (WSB), Alan Ford Productions, Chad Jones, Cornwall Hill College Preschool, SABC3, Expresso Show, amaBhungane, Alan Ford","focusai_location":"South Africa, Pretoria","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (1.0), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Impact?","query":"What specific regulatory actions or penalties could World Sports Betting face from South African gambling authorities regarding this breach of advertising standards and responsible gambling guidelines?"},{"label":"Governance Frameworks?","query":"How will World Sports Betting's revised supplier code of conduct and internal governance frameworks be structured to prevent similar third-party marketing compliance failures in the future, and what oversight mechanisms will be implemented?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60011,60017],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-37051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-africa","category-sportsbetting-news","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37051"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37075,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37051\/revisions\/37075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Production company accepts responsibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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