In a ruling, published on March 13 on www.asa.org.uk, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a televised advert from Sky Betting and Gaming and deemed it irresponsible.
The advertisement in question was launched in August 2018. Since then, ASA has received two complaints that the advertisement misleads viewers that those who have some sports knowledge are likely to place winning bets.
The ad itself promoted the so-called “Request a Bet” service from Sky Bet. It allows players to bet on different events happening during a football match. They can place a wager on the number of goals, the number of red cards, the corners, etc. The ad is narrated by Jeff Stelling, a popular football presenter, who says: “Spark your sports brain and roll all the possibilities into one bet. Three red cards, seven corners, five goals: let's price that up … How big is your sports noggin?”
There is also a large screen behind Jeff Stelling where various odds and statistics are displayed along with a graphic of brain waves emanating from his head. According to the complainants, the brain graphics implied that the successful betting is determined by the expertise someone has in sports.
Sky Bet representatives commented on the ban and said that as a general rule, knowledge in sports can increase a player’s chances of winning. They also added that the intended effect of the ad was to make customers consider the Request a Bet feature a powerful tool for placing winning bets while relying on previous knowledge.
Sky Bet also highlighted the “In sports, anything can happen” line, which explicitly states that one can never predict whether the wager would be a winning or a losing one.
Regardless of Sky Bet’s response, the ASA ruled that the ad must not be broadcast in its current form. The ruling concludes with: We [ASA – Ed.] told Sky Bet to ensure in future that their ads did not condone or encourage gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible, for example by creating an unrealistic perception of the level of control consumers would have over betting success.”
