ASA Adjudication on Bet365 Group Ltd

Ad

Two press ads for Bet365.com:

a. One ad detailed odds for various football games taking place and text stated "£200 FREE BETS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS". Small print at the bottom of the ad stated "OVER 18s ONLY. Terms and Conditions apply. Please call or see bet365.com for full details. www.gambleaware.co.uk".

b. Another ad invited readers to place bets for horse racing with Bet365 and stated "£200 FREE BETS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS". Small print at the bottom of the ad stated "Over 18s only. Terms and Conditions apply. Please call or see bet365.com for full details. www.gambleaware.co.uk".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ads were misleading because they did not make clear that new customers could only claim the £200 of free bets if they staked a substantial amount of their own money first.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Bet365 Group Ltd (Bet365) said the ads stated that terms and conditions applied to obtaining the free bets and those conditions were clearly detailed on their website. They said the terms of the offer were quite complex and that it was not possible to include all of them in the ad.  They said that the Racing Post readers were an educated betting audience and would understand that in order to obtain the free bets they would need to place a bet of their own.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the £200 of free bets were awarded in increments of £25 based on a fixed number of bets and a minimum spend by the customer. We noted from the conditions on the website that, upon staking the first £25 of their own money, new customers received a free bet worth £25.  The remaining £175 of free bets were also awarded in £25 increments when customers made five bets or more of at least £25.  We noted that in order to obtain the full £200 of free bets, customers were required to spend £900.

We considered the minimum spend, the minimum number of bets and the incremental nature of the awards were significant conditions likely to influence consumers' understanding of the offer and concluded that, because this information was omitted, ads (a) and (b) were likely to mislead.

The ads breached CAP Code clauses 7.1, 7.2 (Truthfulness) and 32.5 (Free offers and free trials).

Action

The ads should not appear again in their current form.   We told Bet365 to ensure that significant conditions were detailed in their ads in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)