Who: ProgressPlay Ltd t/a JeffBet and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 8 May 2024
Law stated as at: 21 May 2024
What happened:
JeffBet, an online gambling platform operated by ProgressPlay, ran a promotion on its homepage in November 2023 that contained the text “BET £10 AND GET £30 FREE BET“. The terms and conditions on the ad stated in small text that this applied to “New Players Only” and that “full terms apply”.
In the ninth point of the full terms, ProgressPlay stated that “Any player can receive up to 1 (one) sport welcome bonus on the ProgressPlay Network“, meaning that customers who had previously received a welcome bonus on any of ProgressPlay’s sites could not get the £30 free bet. As a result, a complaint was lodged by a customer who was not eligible for the promotion despite being a new JeffBet customer, who found the advert to be misleading.
In response to the complaint, JeffBet emphasised that they ensure promotional ads include as much detail as possible so that consumers can make informed choices. JeffBet said that in this instance, they simply did not have the space to include an explanation that the welcome offer applied to the whole of the ProgressPlay network, rather than just JeffBet. In addition, they defended their position by stating that they included the relevant terms and conditions in a link within the ad, which meant consumers could be fully informed.
However, the ASA upheld the complaint, ruling that the ad was indeed misleading. They noted that the phrase “New Players Only” appeared in small print alongside other terms and conditions stated in the ad, giving the impression that it was a specific condition of the promotion. The ASA considered that consumers would, both from the context of the promotional offer and the text itself, suppose that, so long as they did not already have a JeffBet account, they were eligible for the offer.
In response to JeffBet’s assertion that there was not enough space to include all the relevant information, the ASA highlighted that, as the ad was placed on the JeffBet website itself, any space limitations were self-imposed. Additionally, the ASA found fault with the lack of clarity on the meaning of “ProgressPlay Network”, suggesting that consumers were unlikely to understand this term. The ASA held that the ad should have explicitly stated that ProgressPlay owned a number of gambling sites, including JeffBet, and that being a customer of any one of those other sites excluded the customer from this specific promotion.
The ASA ruled that the ad was not allowed to appear in its current form and advised ProgressPlay to make sure that they did not misleadingly imply that customers could benefit from promotions that they were not eligible for. They were also advised to include all significant conditions in their promotions and provide accessible links to a list of all ProgressPlay-owned gambling sites.
Why this matters:
If a promotion is being run across a network of operated sites, or there are exclusions which apply to the network, this must be clearly stated to customers in the main ad copy, along with a prominent and accessible link which sets out the list of sites within the network.
In addition, this ruling serves as a useful reminder that it is difficult (/not possible) to claim that you are constrained by space or functionality requirements on your own site.
