Sports betting agencies fined for illegal advertising in NSW crackdown
Sports betting agencies Sportschamps and Pointsbet have been convicted and fined for illegal gambling advertising in a blitz on online gaming companies launched by the NSW government.
The crackdown by Liquor & Gaming NSW, follows the state government passing laws last year making promoting inducements to gamble subject to fines of up to $55,000 per offence and making company directors open to criminal charges.
The infringing Sportschamps’ advert which cost the company $2,000 in the NSW courts
Mumbrella understands the NSW government agency is planning a number of other prosecutions against betting agencies.
Sportschamps was fined $2,500 and ordered to pay $3,250 in legal costs for breaching the state’s gaming laws prohibiting advertising free gambling offers following an advertisement on the sportschamps.com.au website on 5 July 2018.
The advertisement read: “Matched first time deposit bonus up to $50 – Deposit for the first time and we’ll match your deposit with Bonus Cash, up to $50. Keep the winnings from Bonus Cas (sic)” accompanied a button close by that said: “Sign up for free”.
In handing down judgement, NSW chief magistrate Graeme Henson took into account Sportschamps’ submission that no one signed up for the offer.
In PointsBet’s case the company was convicted and fined $20,000 after pleading guilty to posting illegal illegal inducements to gamble.
The prosecution followed an investigation by the state regulator into an advertisement that appeared alongside the PointsBet app in the Apple App Store.
The advertisement offered ‘ALL 40+ METRO RACES RUN 2ND UP TO $100 BACK’ if participants opened a betting account.
Magistrate G J Still accepted that the advertisement may not have been easy to find on the Apple App Store but said it had the potential to drive people in the direction of PointsBet online.
Liquor & Gaming NSW director of compliance operations, Sean Goodchild, said PointsBet’s advertisement had clearly offered an inducement to gamble.
“Betting operators have an obligation to ensure that all advertising complies with NSW laws on gambling advertising,” Mr Goodchild said.
“Inducements are known to increase the risk of gambling harm so any breaches are taken seriously, which is reflected in the $20,000 fine.
“Under new laws that came into effect in July 2018, wagering operators, if found guilty of promoting inducements to gamble face fines of up to $55,000 per offence and company directors can be criminally prosecuted.”
Absurd laws. Offering punters a better deal than the competition, a deal that lessens the likelihood of the punter losing his money, cannot be promoted? Instead, the uninformed punter can just bet with a legacy company like the TAB, who don’t offer this deal, and who offer vastly inferior odds to new betting companies in the market, like those referred to in the article. And that’s supposed to in some way mean a better deal for the punter? It’s the same logic as stopping shops advertising specials.
People who want to bet will bet. At least let them be exposed to special offers that lessen the chance of them losing.
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OK. I admit I don’t bet, but I do object to the crass style of betting adverts, and the scheduling of these bad boys before 8.30pmin the evening when younger family members are watching.
During last years Melbourne Cup, build-up we had the TV sports report sponsored by a betting company. Off-field betting has such a bad reputation worldwide affecting so many many sports, and here is a TV station having their sports report sponsored by a betting company, so for upholding community standards.
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I was new to gambling in 2016 and signed up because of those various inducements. They were great, I won heaps. Never once did I become a mind-numbed zombie addicted to gambling. It was my own money and I could do what I wanted with it. But then along came the wowsers and the government listened to them. I stopped betting because the fun went out of it. Another example of the fun police wrecking everything.
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