BoyleSports rapped over “irresponsible” betting promotion
The ASA deemed the advert to encourage frequent or repetitive participation in betting.
UK.- The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against an advert for gambling operator BoyleSports. The paid-for online display ad appeared on the Racing Post website in March to promote the brand’s “Bank Builder Jackpot”.
The promotion in question offered “UP TO £60 IN FREE BETS SHARE OF £10K EVERY WEEK” in large text. Operating on a weekly basis from February 9 to March 8, it required customers to meet a £10 bet daily qualifying criteria on four, five, six or seven days within a promotional week. Depending on the relevant daily qualifying sport, the £10 requirement could be met either through one qualifying bet of, or multiple qualifying bets totalling, at least £10.
The reward varied depending on how many days the customer met the qualifying criteria, and the prize share was credited as withdrawable cash the following Monday. BoyleSports stressed that qualifying days did not need to be consecutive apart from the seven-day promotional pool and that customers did not need to progress to the seven-day tier.
It described the promotion as being aimed at customers with varying levels of normal betting activity. It did not require them to increase their individual stake size or commit to participate across the full period of the promotion. As such, it said it believed the ad did not encourage behaviour that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial harm. It also noted that the qualifying stake was fixed, so customers were unable to increase guaranteed benefit by increasing the value of their bet.
Racing Post said it had received no complaints about the ad. However, the ASA ruled that it breached the CAP Code rules that state that marketing communications for gambling must not encourage frequent or repetitive participation.
“We noted that betting on five or six days in a week would require some gambling on consecutive days, and that even customers opting for the lowest level of benefit, at four days, were encouraged by the ad to place eligible bets on more days of a promotional week than not,” it said.
“While we understood that BoyleSports held data that showed that the average stake for racing and football was higher than the £10 qualifying bet, and that they had interpreted that to mean that customers were not required to increase their ordinary stake to participate, we did not consider this was sufficient evidence that the ad avoided encouraging frequent or repetitive participation.”
The advert must not appear again in the form investigated.
Meanwhile, BoyleSports has announced a sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Leeds United. It’s the second major football sponsorship deal announced this week following the Coral Birmingham City sponsorship deal.
