Betting ads with child appeal ‘irresponsible’, regulator rules

Betway and Kwiff acted irresponsibly by breaking marketing rules protecting under-18s from gambling ads, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.

The regulator upheld separate complaints against both companies, concluding that the identified advertisements were “likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons” and therefore breached its code of conduct.

Problem gambling among children aged 11-18 doubled between 2023 and 2024 – equating to around 85,000 young people nationwide. Research shows that almost 90 per cent of 13-17 year-olds have been exposed to online gambling promotions.

ASA rulings

In May, Betway ran an advertisement featuring fans wearing clothing and scarves sporting the Chelsea FC logo.

Although the betting giant claimed it was targeted at YouTube users aged 25 or over, ASA considered that, as the platform did not use robust age-verification checks, a significant number of children would be able to see it.

Last year, Kwiff shared a post on social media showing Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton. But it argued that the image was “adult-oriented” and its post included the 18+ and BeGambleAware.org logos.

The regulator concluded that both ads were “irresponsible and breached the Code” and told Betway and Kwiff to ensure that future marketing did not contain content with a “strong appeal to those under 18 years of age”.

Urgent action

Last month, GambleAware warned that influencers and celebrities are fuelling child gambling.

Research commissioned by the industry-funded charity found that a quarter of the children and young people surveyed “said they have been tempted to spend money gambling after seeing a celebrity gambling or advertising gambling”.

The CEO of GambleAware, Zoë Osmond, commented: “Consistent exposure to influencer-driven gambling content contributes to the normalisation of gambling amongst school aged children and we know that early exposure to gambling at a younger age can lead young people to have a higher risk of experiencing gambling harm later in life.”

She called for urgent action to be taken so that Government policies “catch-up with the digital age”.