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Unibet Penalized AU$48k in NSW for Illegal Gambling Ads
By Jeff Osienya Jul 25, 2021 LegalityThree flagship betting products from Unibet have been flagged by the New South Wales gambling watchdog for violating the region’s gaming advertising rules. The Kindred Group subsidiary pleaded guilty to three offenses in a local court in a July hearing.Following an investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW, Unibet has been slapped with multiple penalties after pleading guilty to posting three illegal gambling advertisements. Liquor & Gaming NSW is the oversight agency for the gaming industry, liquor sales, and licensed clubs in New South Wales.
Under the NSW Betting and Racing act 1998, gambling advertisements that entice or encourage consumers to gamble on any activity more often are illegal. The law prohibits any operator in NSW from promoting a gambling ad that “includes any inducement to participate, or participate frequently, in any gambling activity (including an inducement to open a betting account).” Offenders found guilty of violating this law are liable to a penalty worth up to AU$110,000 for each offense, and company officials could each face criminal charges.
Unibet went against the regulations in November 2020 when it published ads about its new Uniboost, Uplift, and Reboost products on its website and the Apple App Store. Uniboost allows players to boost their odds three times a day, and Uplift offers enhanced or ‘Uplifted’ odds on every runner in eligible races. Reboost, on the other hand, gives players unlimited boosts every Wednesday and Saturday until they back a winner.
The Kindred Group-owned online gambling and sportsbook operator has been fined a total of AU$48,000 in fines and has also been ordered to pay the legal costs worth AU$3,900. Unibet had a chance to appeal the regulator’s penalties but opted to plead guilty on July 15, 2021, in a Downing Centre Local Court, to all three counts of ad offenses.
Darren Duke, the Compliance Director of NSW Liquor & Gaming, explained Unibet’s penalties in a statement:
Quote“Special or enhanced odds have the ability to induce people to open a betting account when they otherwise may be refraining from gambling, and they may encourage people to gamble more frequently. In Downing Centre Local Court on 15 July, Unibet pleaded guilty to three offences and was fined $16,000 per offence, totalling $48,000, for breaching NSW gaming laws. They were also ordered to pay $3,900 in legal costs. The offences relate to the publication on the Unibet website and Apple App Store on 26 November 2020, of the availability of the Uniboost, Uplift, and Reboost products which are a form of special or enhanced odds."
Unibet Has Previously Been In Trouble with the Liquor & Gaming NSW Regulator
As he talked about Unibet’s fines, the Compliance Director of the NSW ombudsman also pointed out the operator’s past indiscretions, he said:
Quote“During sentencing, the Magistrate noted that Unibet had a record of previous convictions and had most recently been fined $25,000 in 2019 for breaches of the betting legislation. The advertisements were designed to entice people to engage with gambling products and are a breach of the legislation.”
In the said sentence, the Magistrate was referring to an AU$25,000 penalty that Unibet received from the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney in December 2019. At that time, the operator had still breached the NSW Betting and Racing act 1998 in two of its promotions.
The first of the pair of adverts had been published on The Canberra Times website the previous year, in November 2018, saying “Deposit $20, Bet with $100”. The other advertisement was featured on Unibet’s Australia-facing site in February 2019. It read, “Earn $50 CASH For Each Friend You Refer!” According to the gaming watchdog, both promotions offered inducements to players to take part in a gambling activity, against the NSW Betting and Racing Act.
To put the NSW gambling advertising rules into perspective, it is worth pointing out that such promotional campaigns are only allowed to be offered to account holders of licensed gambling operators. So, only players logged in to their gambling accounts can view the advertisements. Per the NSW law, this restriction was introduced to reduce the risk of gambling harm by inducing people who might not have intended to gamble.
Yet, for all Unibet’s cases, the promotions could be viewed by anyone who visited Unibet’s website without having an account or directly on a third-party platform (Apple App Store and The Canberra Times).
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