UK ASA Shows Gambling Market Maturity in Robbie Savage Tweet Debacle

All online gambling regulators walk a fine line when introducing legislation aimed at protecting at-risk citizens while allowing licensed casinos and betting sites to remain financially viable. In particular, regulatory directives in the United Kingdom have a history of being deemed draconian as they either tread on player rights or hamstring business development.

However, in a recent review of a Tweet that felt like it could have had a youth orientation, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) showed a laudable level of maturity and rationality.

 Flag on the Play

The ASA raised the case against multi-channel gambling site William Hill. The review was triggered by a promoted Tweet which featured former football star Robbie Savage. The William  Hill social media posts seemed innocuous enough:

Quote

“No matter who the manager is, Leeds are going down. And @RobbieSavage thinks it’ll be too little, too late at Elland Road…”

The message contained a video clip where Savage discussed his thoughts on Leeds United being relegated, where the William Hill and BeGambleAware logos were displayed occasionally.

The promoted video clip ended with “It’s who you play with. William Hill.” as a subtle but clearly inducing call to action.

Methodical Review Process

The social post was initially believed to be in contravention of the UK Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising (CAP Code), aimed at protecting youth from being encouraged to gamble by sports stars and other personalities.

To determine if this is, in fact, the case, the ASA has a robust personality review process whereby they analyse the celebrity’s social presence to determine who engages with their content.

In this case, they found the following:

1. Savage had aimed the original message at over 25’s.
2. He has yet to compete internationally in over 15 years.
3. He is known as a football commentator, not an entertainer.
4. Only 3.79% of social media followers (8,810 out of 232,000) are 18 or younger.
5. His messaging and conduct were aimed at an older audience.

The outcome of their review of Savage's career, his current role in the industry, and his global social media reach returned a positive result for William Hill. The ASA determined that the gambling site was not guilty of breaching the CAP code and had not been negligent in sharing the footballer's video clip.