UK regulator warns GB Sports Advisors over betting ad

The ASA received a complaint due to missing conditions.

UK.- The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has issued a warning to GB Sports Advisors, the operator of Geoff Banks Online, for a betting advert that failed to include conditions. It had received a complaint from a customer who had been unable to redeem a free bet promotion.

The ASA concluded that the advert breached the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code because it didn’t include the conditions for the promotion. The CAP code requires promotions to include all significant conditions that would be misleading if absent.

To claim the free bet, customers had to reply to a text message by a certain time and to have placed their bet by the same time. However, the advert did not clarify these conditions.

The ASA said: “Those were significant conditions which were likely to affect consumers’ understanding of the promotion. We therefore considered their omission was likely to mislead.”

GB Sports Advisors said it believed the conditions were clear. The advert read: “Bet on the Aintree Grand National and get a free £10 bet on the Scottish Grand National. Geoff Banks will award a £10 free bet for use on the Scottish Grand National if you wager on the Aintree Grand National. Minimum qualifying wager is £10 win or £5 each way. Qualifying wager can win or lose. Bets placed prior to 3pm on Saturday 13 April qualify for this offer. Previous free bet stakes awarded do not count as qualifying wagers. Free bet will be credited to your account by Saturday 20 April.”

However, the ASA has ruled that the advert must not appear again in the same form and warned GB Sports Advisors to include all significant conditions in future promotions.

In other decisions, the ASA recently took issue with an advert from Electronic Arts for the Golf Clash game. It said the ad used on social media channels in March featured insufficient messaging about the presence of loot boxes in the game.