A free spins affiliate promotion offered by a sports retailer has raised concerns over the scope of black market advertising.
A customer posted on social media that they were offered the incentive following a purchase at the UK retailer Sports Direct. Duncan Garvie, Founder of BetBlocker, told SlotBeats that the presentation of the spins as an ‘earned reward’ could elevate the advertising into a higher risk category.
In addition, further examination of the advert calls into question its compliance with UK gambling advertising standards.
Garvie said: “With insufficient terms and out-of-date responsible gambling messaging, [this] strongly suggests that the marketing partner isn’t a UK licensed gambling operator.
“The current sector appears to have one set of rules for operators who look to function legitimately with the licensing system, and no standards for the unlicensed operators’ marketing via high-exposure channels.
“More needs to be done to rein in any advertisement of unlicensed gambling operators in the UK. If a sports team or UK present company chooses to market gambling, there should be severe consequences if they choose to market illegal gambling.”
Garvie’s concerns echo those of the Betting and Gaming Council, after recent research released by the trade body revealed that marketing spend by the regulated sector continues to decrease.
According to the figures, the black market is spending between £500m and £700m each year on marketing, compared to £1.15bn by the regulated sector.
The split for the regulated sector was £341m on broadcast advertising and £768m on digital advertising. Given that the unregulated sector is unlikely to spend money on broadcast advertising, the figures suggest a comparable advertising spend between the two sectors.
Mark Conway, Consultant for GamHarm, told SlotBeats that more should be done on a wider scale to protect the player and ensure that companies like Sports Direct are doing more to be mindful of the potential impact of such promotions on their audience.
He said: “If you are willing to accept money to be seen endorsing a product which is known to have a non-negligible or non-incidental link to potential harm through use, then I would suggest that this should mean taking on board some of the liability and responsibilities that others have to accept to be licensed to sell those same products.
“In the case of gambling marketing where adverts sitting outside of the zone of regulated activities – such as here, between Sports Direct and a slots comparison site – but which are seeking to promote products which do sit within the sphere of regulated activities – such as gambling – should be required to follow the same marketing and promotional guidelines which apply to the regulated product providers.”