Unibet fined for illegal advertising

[The Buzz]

Betchoice, trading as Unibet, was ordered by Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court earlier this week to pay fines and costs of $25,000 for offering illegal gambling inducements to New South Wales residents.

The announcement came after a Liquor & Gaming NSW investigation found that Unibet was offering “Earn $50 CASH For Each Friend You Refer!” on its website in February 2019., Another ad on The Canberra Times website in November 2018 offered “Deposit $20, Bet with $100.”

Under the NSW Betting and Racing Act, it is an offense to publish a gambling advertisement that “includes any inducement to participate, or participate frequently, in any gambling activity (including an inducement to open a betting account).”

From iGaming Business:

Such promotions can only be offered to registered betting account holders in the state. However, it was determined that as anyone who visited either the Unibet or newspaper website would have been able to see the adverts without having to log on to a Betchoice account, the operator was in breach of state law.

“Betting operators have an obligation to ensure that all advertising complies with NSW laws on gambling advertising,” Liquor & Gaming NSW director of compliance operations Sean Goodchild said. “Inducements are known to increase the risk of gambling harm so any breaches are taken seriously.”

Unibet has faced similar punishment in New South Wales before, being fined $7,500 and ordered to pay $5,000 in professional costs for running an ad on its website offering a credit and reward as an inducement in August 2015.

Read more here: https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news...ng-inducements

[ddm]

a 25k fine? What the f.

[TheGooner]

It's only 25K because they only broke the clause in the brackets?

[Former Member 14]

25K would be loose change for Unibet.
It's not exactly a fine which would deter them doing it again.

Given, they got busted doing something similar back in 2015.

[Triple7]

In the Netherlands, Unibet has withdrawn its appeal against a fine:

https://www.gaminginholland.com/20191216/unibet-drops-appeal-against-ksa-fine-holland-casino-ceo-reappointed-for-second-term

[Christiaan]

I already thought the €470.000 in the Netherlands was small.
These €15.000 is real peanuts for them. I don't think they will care about this small amount.

[drifter8]

Complete peanuts, next time they have to add some zeros behind

[ttt]

The marketing team of Unibet deserves some extra money. Now you read in many news about Unibet and their offer. And all this for just 25k. The only better promo was the William Hill "Stuck in the friend zone" advert on Tinder.

[casinoportal]

What a paltry fine, that is hardly going to act as a deterrent. Had it been in the UK, you can bet the fine would of been in the millions.

[spinmaster]

I never beieved that company like Unibet according to their experience could do so simple mistakes. On other hand why penalty so small it's a questioan. Besides, they broke gambling advertising rules before.

[fullbenefit]

It's more like a warning to them, not a fine.