The Gambling Commission has issued Super Group-owned operator Betway with a £408,915 fine for advertising on the child-friendly pages of West Ham United’s official website.
Enquiries by the regulator revealed that between April 2020 and November 2021, the operator’s logo, which linked to its website, was displayed on a webpage offering the opportunity to print a teddy bear for children to colour in.
It was also revealed that between October and November 2021, the logo and another link to the firm’s website was published on the ‘Young Hammers at Home’ webpage, which is targeted at fans of the club under 18 years of age.
Both adverts contravened the Gambling Commission’s social responsibility rules for UK-licensed operators.
Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission director of enforcement, said: “Protecting children from gambling harm is at the heart of what we do.
“Although there is no suggestion that the operator was deliberately targeting children, or that children had been allowed to gamble, we take the breach of any rules aimed at protecting children extremely seriously.
“We note the remedial actions since taken by licensee but advise all operators to learn from this case and ensure that they take responsibility and have the correct processes in place so that websites directed at children do not include advertisements for gambling,” Oxley concluded.
Gambling Commission director of enforcement Leanne Oxley: “Although there is no suggestion that the operator was deliberately targeting children, or that children had been allowed to gamble, we take the breach of any rules aimed at protecting children extremely seriously.”
Back in 2020, Betway was ordered by the Gambling Commission to pay a total of £11.6m, in response to AML and social responsibility failures identified between 2014 and 2019.
The Gambling Commission has continued to be highly active in its approach to non-compliant operators throughout 2022.
Some of its notable actions this year include a record fine of £17m issued to Entain, in addition to several further settlements, including £9.4m from 888, £3.8m from Genesis Global, £1.4m from Spreadex and £1.3m from LeoVegas.
The regulator also suspended the licence of Germany-based operator bet-at-home as it carried out a review of its operations, following suspected breaches of AML and social responsibility regulations.
Betway owner