Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Fitzdares Ltd
Where: United Kingdom
When: 16 April 2025
Law stated as at: 24 April 2025
What happened:
Stuart Broad is a former famous cricket professional who played Test cricket for England and was the One Day & Twenty20 captain for the national team. On 13 August 2024, he posted on social media “Delighted to have teamed up with @Fitzdares. They’re an independent operator, build genuine personal relationships with their members & play the game the right way. They’ve given me a £500 free bet pot every month to raise cash for Motor Neurone Disease. Let me know if you’ve got any tips for the upcoming PL season!? #Ad”. An image of Stuart Broad playing cricket was included in the post.
GambleAware challenged whether the ad included an individual who was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s and, therefore breached the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code).
Fitzdares Ltd said it had carried out a thorough risk assessment of Stuart Broad against the CAP guidance on gambling and lotteries advertising and was satisfied to a high degree that he was not of strong appeal to under 18s.
As part of its challenge to the ASA, Fitzdares Ltd acknowledged that Stuart Broad had a glittering professional career between 2006 and 2023. This included an MBE in 2017, a CBE in 2023 and being awarded runner-up in the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. That said, since 2023, Stuart Broad has predominantly taken up punditry and cricket analysis, something Fitzdares Ltd argued was not of strong appeal to under 18s.
Further, Fitzdares Ltd also produced numerical evidence in the form of social media data for Stuart Broad, showing that only around 7,500 followers across all of his accounts were registered as being in the UK and under the age of 18, whereas he had approximately 860,000 followers in total on one social media platform and 1.3m followers in total on another. Some of his social media accounts had also been inactive for several years.
CAP guidance categorises prominent sportspeople in high-profile sports as “high risk” for appealing to under 18s, while less prominent sportspeople are “low risk”.
The ASA noted that during his prime, Stuart Broad was one of the most prominent and well-known sportspeople involved in cricket. However, since his retirement, his role in the sport had been limited to commentating and analysing matches, indicating that his role had been significantly reduced. He was therefore less likely to be of appeal to under 18s than current cricket stars.
The ASA also examined Stuart Broad’s UK social media presence and general profile. Despite being a well-known figure, his media appearances were mostly cricket-focused, and his brand partnerships were adult-oriented. It accepted that the data showed that he had a low number of under 18 followers on social media, indicating limited appeal to this age group.
Lastly, looking at the advert itself, the ASA considered that there was nothing in the way Stuart Broad was presented that would have strongly attracted the attention of under 18s or was likely to render him of strong appeal.
Therefore, the ASA ruled that the ad was not of strong appeal to under 18s, and that there was no breach.
Why this matters:
This ruling is another example of the ASA investigating gambling adverts involving high profile sports stars and determining whether they appeal to under 18s.
The ASA relied heavily on the numerical data provided by Fitzdares Ltd in respect of the social media presence of Stuart Broad and considered that given that the actual number of Stuart Broad’s followers under 18 was low, he was less likely to be of appeal to under 18s. It should be noted, however, that in a similar case against Bonne Terre Ltd t/a Sky Bet in October 2023, the ASA upheld a ruling based on an advert featuring Gary Neville, relying in part on the fact that he had 135,000 followers under the age of 18, even though that made up a small percentage of his total followers.
As such, it is clear that the ASA goes into great detail when investigating the profile of an individual, including using their online social media presence as a gauge for someone’s popularity with minors. This further reinforces that gambling operators need to properly ensure that they investigate and vet individuals for appeal to children (and document the analysis and decision) before they sign up to any sponsorship contract.
