News

The chief executive officer of the UK gambling regulatory body has faced some criticism for not visiting any high-street betting shops to personally check on the industry since taking up his current role at the watchdog a year ago. According to anti-gambling campaigners, Andrew Rhodes has also not visited any online gambling websites since June 2021 when he took over the position of UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) boss. Will Prochaska, one of the members of a local charity organisation that supports families of players who have taken their own lives…

Netball Australia denied rumours that it is endangered by financial collapse amid a cash crisis overshadowing the beginning of the Super Netball final series that is scheduled to start on June 18th. However, it became clear that the organisation could accept some money for advertising gambling services as part of an effort to generate more revenue. Reportedly, Netball Australia lost AU$7.2 million over the past two years, with its losses over the 2021 season amounting to about AU$4.4 million. The bank loans of the netball sports governing body in Australia…

A new UK study has taken the prevalence of gambling logos in football club programmes into the spotlight. According to the research, conducted by Steve Sharman, Philip Newall, and Catia Alexandra Ferreira, almost 57% of the reviewed football clubs had an enormous presence of gambling logos in children-facing sections. The study focused on a total of 44 football clubs from the English Premier League (EPL) and the Championship and examined them for a period of 18 months. The results of the study showed that 56.8% of these clubs feature gambling…

The CEO of the UK gambling regulatory body, Andrew Rhodes, urged gambling companies to enhance their consumer protection measures. The boss of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) used the opportunity he had at the beginning of the week when he took part in the Westminster Media Forum Gambling Regulation Conference, to unveil some of the impact gambling has on society in the country. Mr Rhodes also spoke about important issues linked to the growth of the local gambling market and called for operators to make more efforts to offer safer…

The UK advertising regulatory body has warned local gambling companies that most content marketing communications are categorised as marketing, which means that they must abide by the watchdog’s rules, although there are some exceptions. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has noted that research over whether its rules apply to gambling companies’ content marketing on social media has raised some questions. The advertising regulator noted that such content does not openly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in the company’s products or services. According to the ASA, this…

Tabcorp, pub establishments, and the anti-gambling lobby in the state of Victoria are preparing for an election-year campaign to try and convince the local Government to boost the tax that applies to online bookmakers, which is currently the lowest one in the country. Reportedly, gambling companies based in Australia intend to try and pressure Treasurer Tim Pallas to increase the tax that online gambling and sports betting operators such as Sportsbet and Ladbrokes are required to pay. Currently, that tax rate is 10%. The point-of-consumption tax (POCT) was first unveiled…

Former striker Michael Owen was found to have breached the UK gambling advertising laws by using his account on Twitter to promote an unlicensed cryptocurrency casino to British customers. The ex-professional footballer, who once played for some of the largest clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid, has received instructions from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to take down a promotion for a non-fungible token (NFT) scheme which violated the country’s rules about advertising cryptocurrency products. In mid-May, Michael Owen published 2 tweets advertising the services of Punt Casino…

A major report has warned that losses on the most addictive gambling products are mainly concentrated in deprived areas. According to the report, over 420,000 British gamblers lose no less than £2,000 on an annual basis. The report unveils information about the massive losses of the most avid gamblers and raises concern regarding the low level of intervention that competent regulatory bodies and authorities have with gambling operators in an effort to prevent their customers from gambling-related harm. The findings of the research triggered more calls for the UK Government…

The New South Wales (NSW) Government has revealed that it is willing to amend two of the local gambling regulations, which are set to expire in September. The Cabinet issued an official report to inform that the amendments are expected to be brought in by the end of 2022. The Hospitality and Racing CEO, Anthony Keon, commented on the matter, saying that statutory reviews allow the law to keep up with the pace of the constantly changing industry. The two regulations of the gambling sector that are expected to be…

The beginning of the week saw the Queensland State Government announce its decision to roll out a significant increase to the taxes paid by the corporate sports betting operators. The local Government’s intention is to bring changes to the way in which racing is funded. As part of these changes, the local lawmakers have decided to introduce a new 5% racing levy in addition to the so-called Point of Consumption tax that bookmakers are already required to pay. The Queensland State Government also revealed that free and bonus bets will…