LeoVegas, the international operator of online casinos and sports betting websites, has been ordered by the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority to withdraw one of its radio advertisements for BetUK, an online sports betting brand.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the respective advert was “irresponsible” and that it could appeal to children. The advert aired in September 2023 and it featured Adebayo Akinfenwa, a retired football player, who spoke about his role as a brand ambassador for BetUK.
However, in the advert in question Akinfenwa encouraged players to gamble responsibly and also made them aware of the various safer gambling tools available on BetUK, including deposit limits, the possibility of setting time-outs and scheduling reality checks.
The Advertising Standards Authority received just one complaint regarding the advertisement’s possible appeal to children. The respective complaint underlined that the presence of a former football player in the advert could present a strong appeal to children and that would put the advert in breach of the BCAP Code.
LeoVegas Rejects Complaint
The online casino and sports betting operator responded to the complaint by saying that it doesn’t believe the advert appeals to children. LeoVegas and BetUK underlined that Adebayo Akinfenwa is now aged 41 and has retired from football for some time, so it is quite unlikely that he is popular with today’s children.
Moreover, LeoVegas and BetUK pointed out that Akinfenwa was not a huge football star back in the day, he spent most of his career in the lower leagues of English football and not in the Premier League. That makes any potential for appeal to children even lower.
Adebayo Akinfenwa does have a clothing range which made him known outside of the world of football but BetUK underlined that it does not include any products for children, so there shouldn’t be any problem there either.
When looking at the social media accounts associated with Akinfenwa, BetUK pointed out that just 8 percent of his total followers on Instagram were under the age of 18, while on Snapchat the percentage went up to 18 percent.
The sports betting operator also underlined that the advert did not feature any content that would normally be associated with children or a childish tone. Moreover, it was played during a radio show that is targeting an adult audience. Radiocentre, the commercial body for United Kingdom radio stations, decided to support BetUK in this case.
Despite the response, the Advertising Standards Authority decided to uphold the complaint because it was found in breach of the BCAP Code, which states that adverts for gambling products must not be likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons.
Source: “LeoVegas ordered to withdraw “irresponsible” BetUK radio advert“. iGaming Business. March 13, 2024.
