UK’s Remote Gambling Association Denies Ad Ban Agreement

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) of the UK has denied the reports claiming that the industry has agreed to a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling advertising during sports events. The organization, along with its members have been talking about self-regulation for some time, discussing the type of restrictions that gambling advertising could face.

RGA Chairman Clive Hawkswood noted that the talks are currently in progress and there is no sign of a concrete proposal by the organization yet. He quickly trashed the news about the ban. However, the talks about advertising restrictions are ongoing regardless, and a whistle-to-whistle ban is a possibility.

Some other self-regulation suggestions include restricting the number of gambling advertisements during a commercial break or a pre-watershed blanket ban on advertising. There could also be a ban on advertisements for in-play bets.

Reports about the RGA finally deciding on a whistle-to-whistle advertising ban are circulating despite claims from Hawkswood. BBC was amongst the media houses that claimed about an agreement between the RGA members, causing confusing all over. According to the BBC report, members of the RGA like Paddy Power Betfair, bet365 and William Hill have agreed to ban.

Operators, reports suggest, has agreed to stop advertising during sporting events that begin before the 9 pm watershed. The news has since been reported by several other high-profile media houses in the UK. The news has led to a slump in the operators’ share prices by as much as 4%.

Despite the fall, operators are in favour of some kind of advertising restrictions. GVC Holdings, which owns Ladbrokes Coral, also supports pre-watershed bans, as confirmed by their boss Kenny Alexander. Broadcasting companies also support regulations and Sky recently suggested that it would limit gambling advertising to just one per break. The bans will begin with the 2019/20 Premier League season. Subscribers will also be able to replace gambling ads with other commercials manually.