Sky CEO Stephen van RooyenSky
Sky CEO Stephen van Rooyen wrote in the LONDON TIMES of the potential ban on gambling advertisements, "you could be forgiven for thinking that this sounds a reasonable plan." The truth is, the "facts paint a very different picture." What the Remote Gambling Association has "failed to address is the inconvenient truth" that over 80% of the gambling industry's advertising is in the "largely unregulated online world." Independent research from Gamble Aware showed "money spent on gambling marketing online is five times that of TV, and the amount of cash spent promoting gambling on social media has more than tripled over the past three years." If the RGA and gambling companies "are serious about protecting vulnerable gamblers, then they should start by looking at where they spend the most money, what has the least level of regulation and where there is most evidence of harm: the online world" (LONDON TIMES, 12/10). CALVIN AYRE's Steven Stradbrooke reported Van Rooyen acknowledged that his views appeared to be those of "a broadcaster scared of losing TV ad revenue," but he pointed to Sky's recent decision to limit gambling ads to one per commercial break and its use of AdSmart technology to enable viewers to "block all gambling advertising." A spokesperson for the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority rejected Van Rooyen's claims that online ads "occupied a regulatory wasteland," saying that digital ads are "subject to the same strict regulations as broadcast advertising" (CALVIN AYRE, 12/10).
SHARES DOWN: EUROPEAN GAMING's Niji Ng reported the shares of gambling firms "were down" in the U.K. following reports about a proposed ban on gambling advertisements in TV during sports broadcasts. Shares of William Hill and 888 fell by almost 3% and 5%, respectively. GVC's shares lost 5.6% of their value (EUROPEAN GAMING, 12/10).
