ACMA fines AU$2.5m Sportsbet for breaching Australia’s spam laws
ACMA found that Sportsbet breached spam laws by sending more than 150,000 marketing text messages to over 37,000 consumers who had tried to unsubscribe.
Australia.- The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found Sportsbet, Australia’s largest online bookmaker, guilty of breaching spam laws. It has fined the bookmaker AU$2.5m (US$1.8m).
According to the regulator, between January 2020 and March 2021, Sportsbet sent more than 150,000 marketing text messages and emails to over 37,000 consumers who had tried to unsubscribe. The online bookmaker also sent over 3,000 marketing texts that had no unsubscribe function. The messages offered incentives to consumers to place bets or contained alerts about upcoming races.
Nerida O’Loughlin, ACMA Chair, said: “We received complaints from people stating they were experiencing gambling-related problems and were trying to manage the issue by unsubscribing from Sportsbet’s promotions.”
The regulator has accepted a comprehensive three-year court-enforceable undertaking from Sportsbet to appoint an independent arbiter to oversee a settlement programme to refund customers who lost money on bets made following the spam messages, which is expected to total around AU$1.2m.
The undertaking will also require Sportsbet to appoint an independent consultant to review its procedures, policies, training and systems, and implement recommendations from the audit.
O’Loughlin added: “Sportsbet is a large and sophisticated company which should have robust systems in place to comply with spam laws and protect the interests of its customers. We will be actively monitoring Sportsbet’s compliance and the commitments it has made to the ACMA.”
The ACMA revealed that over the past 18 months, businesses have paid nearly AU$3.4m for breaking spam and telemarketing laws. The regulator has accepted 13 court-enforceable undertakings and issued seven formal warnings to businesses.
