Ruling against Betway Chelsea FC ad sets “damaging precedent,” gambling operator claims
The pre-roll ad showed football fans wearing Chelsea clothing and scarves.
UK.- The British Advertising Standards Authority has rapped Betway over a YouTube advert shown in May of this year. The pre-roll ad showed football fans wearing clothing and scarves with the Chelsea FC logo, reflecting the betting operator’s deal with the Premier League team as its European Betting Partner. A complaint argued that by featuring the Chelsea FC logo, the ad was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, putting it in breach of the advertising of the CAP Code.
The CAP and BCAP Advertising Guidance “Gambling and lotteries advertising: protecting under-18s” recognises football as an activity of inherently strong appeal to under-18s but allows gambling ads to include content that “specifically identifies a subject of the gambling activity”, such as a sports team logo. This exemption was designed to balance protecting under-18s with advertisers’ rights to promote licensed products.
Betway argued that its rewards scheme formed an integral part of the gambling activity and that the use of the Chelsea FC logo was in line with the exemption. It noted that the ad showcased elements of a stadium tour to reflect the nature of a prize on offer, as part of a wider campaign to inform viewers of rewards available. It added that a brand lift survey showed that the ad campaign resulted in an 8 per cent increase in brand awareness, all of which was from YouTube users aged 55+. It said that demonstrated the effectiveness of the ad and its targeting of an older audience.
Betway said in order to reduce the connection with football, the ad did not include any active football play, wide shots of the stadium, or extended views of the pitch, which appeared only briefly and out of focus. It said the individuals featured were competition winners rather than actors and their clothing choices were incidental. It added that the participants’ appearance, clothing, and demeanour were clearly adult.
A “damaging precedent for gambling sponsorships”
Betway also noted that it had a contractual right to use the club’s logo in its role as Chelsea FC’s Official European Betting Partner. It argued that if the ad were found to be in breach of the CAP Code it could set a damaging precedent for gambling sponsorships in sport.
The Super Group-owned operator also described the responsible marketing controls it had in place across its sponsorship arrangements, which included a Code of Conduct. That Code explicitly prohibited the use of players or managers in ads but clarified that logos were allowed.
Moreover, the ad was targeted at logged-in YouTube users aged 25+ with relevant interests, in keeping with the requirements of the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) Code for Socially Responsible Advertising. Betway commented that YouTube’s own ad policies offered further safeguards against under-18s being exposed to age-restricted content.
However, the ASA upheld the complaint, finding YouTube’s age verification controls to be inadequate.
It said:: We considered that it would have been acceptable for the logo to appear in a standalone context, for example, at the end of the ad, where it would act as a visual reference to a subject of the gambling activity. However, the logo was shown on fans’ scarves, lanyards and hats. It also featured on team shirts in wall displays and on backdrops within the stadium building. We considered that the depiction of the team logo in an ad that showed a stadium experience for fans was likely to strongly appeal to children and young people who supported Chelsea FC or followed football more widely.
“We further considered that its appearance in that context went beyond any permitted exemption for identifying content and therefore was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s. We further considered that it would have been acceptable for the ad to appear in a medium where under-18s, for all intents and purposes, could be entirely excluded from the audience. That would apply in circumstances where those who saw the ad had been robustly age-verified as being 18 or older, such as through marketing lists that had been validated by payment data or credit checking.
“However, because YouTube was a media environment where users self-verified on customer sign-up and did not use robust age-verification, we considered that Betway had not excluded under-18s from the audience with the highest level of accuracy required for gambling ads where their content was likely to appeal strongly to under-18s.”
The body cited Ofcom research based on a 2025 survey that indicated that 81 per cent of 8–17-year olds who had social media used YouTube. The research also estimated that 20 per cent of 8 to 17-year olds with their own profile on an online service had a registered user age of at least 18.
“Given that evidence, we considered it was likely that there was at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up to YouTube and were able to see and access content intended for those aged 18 or older, meaning they could view advertising content from gambling operators,” the watchdog concluded. It said the ad must not appear again in its current form.
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) recently updated their guidance on how operators and advertisers should protect under-18s in gambling and lottery advertising.
One of the key updates is a clarification on social media following. The guidance now states as a rule of thumb that at least a total of 100,000 social media follower accounts registered to people under-18, across social media platforms, is indicative of strong appeal. Marketers should consider this when considering whether a given personality is likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.
