Abide By The Rules or Be Fined – Simple!
There seems to be no end to the number of operators receiving penalties for breaking the gambling law, just last month no less than four gambling companies received fines for doing just that including LeoVegas (£1.32m) and Entain (£17m).
We thought September was going well with no fines in the first three weeks of the month, but on day 21 that all changed. Today, September 21st, the Gambling Commission announced that Betway has received a fine of more than £400K for advertising its products on a children’s website. Not only a logo, but links to gambling services offered by Betway.
It’s Not Child’s Play!
Online gambling business Betway Limited will pay a £408,915 penalty for marketing on the children’s pages of the West Ham United Football Club’s website. We should point out here that Betway are the sponsors of West Ham United, the English Premier League team, whose logo can be seen splashed across the football kits on matchday.
An investigation carried out by the Gambling Commission revealed that between April 14, 2020, and November 6th of 2021, Betway’s logo, along with links to its website, we displayed on a webpage that offered visitors an opportunity to print a teddy bear for children to colour in.
“Young Hammers at Home,” a section of the West Ham United Football Club website aimed at children, also displayed the logo and the link to the operator’s website between October 24th, 2021, and November 15th, 2021. Therefore, the Gambling Commission instructed Betway to pay more than £400K due to the breaching of Commission rules which clearly state that all gambling advertising must be socially responsible.
Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement, said: “Protecting children from gambling harm is at the heart of what we do. Although there is no suggestion that the operator was deliberately targeting children, or that children had been allowed to gamble, we take the breach of any rules aimed at protecting children extremely seriously.
We note the remedial actions since taken by licensee but advise all operators to learn from this case and ensure that they take responsibility and have the correct processes in place so that websites directed at children do not include advertisements for gambling.”
Surprisingly enough, this isn’t the first time Betway have been fined, neither is it the largest penalty package they have received…
…back in 2020, the online betting form was made to cough up £11.6m after not only accepting stolen money from a high rolling “VIP” players, but after accepting the deposits and wagers of stolen money from those displaying clear signs of gambling addiction!
An investigation was carried out by the Gambling Commission who then revealed that the operator was too weak to allow £5.8m – some of that in stolen money, to flow through the business. Due to this, Betway’s CEO Anthony Werkman closed down its VIP programme while stating the company had no interest in profiting from stolen funds.
Source: “Betway Faces £400,000 Fine For Marketing on Children’s Webpages”. Gambling Commission. September 21, 2022.
This post currently has no comments, be the first.
Leave a Comment