{"id":31200,"date":"2015-09-14T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T17:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=31200"},"modified":"2015-09-15T11:16:39","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T18:16:39","slug":"bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Bet365 Sign-up Promo Slammed By Australian Court"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bet365
The Offending Article: An Australian judge has ruled that Bet365 may not refer to its first deposit bonus as \u201cfree\u201d when there are in fact play-through requirements. (Image: freebetsmate.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>Bet365<\/a> is likely to be heavily fined by the Australian Federal Court after a judge ruled last week that the operator\u2019s first deposit promotion was deceptive and misleading.<\/p>\n

The bonus model, variations of which are in common use throughout the gambling industry, offered \u201c$200 free bets for new customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

An asterisk then directed visitors to small print that qualified the terms of the offer: that customers who deposited $200 would be required to play through up to AUS$1,200 before the full bonus would be unlocked.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t enough to save the ad from being \u201cfalse\u201d and \u201cdeceptive\u201d in the eyes of the prosecution and the judge.<\/p>\n

Ruling in favor of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which had brought the case against Bet365, the judge said that “new customers who had not previously used such types of services were drawn into this web of deception.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCompliance is Essential\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Australian government has pledged to modernize the country\u2019s outdated gambling laws to make them more relevant to the new landscape of internet betting.<\/p>\n

Sports betting advertising, particularly TV spots that advertise in-play betting during big games, is likely to be highly scrutinized, with many politicians calling for a clamp down.<\/p>\n

“This judgment makes it clear that companies cannot use the word ‘free’\u00a0in offers to consumers where any conditions that seek to neutralize the ‘free’\u00a0nature of the offer are not clearly identified. Inducements like free bets run the risk of signing up new and inexperienced gamblers based on a deceptive claim,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompliance with the Australian Consumer Law is essential for all companies that sell to Australian consumers, regardless of geographic location,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u201cThe ACCC will take action where it thinks consumers are being misled, especially in emerging markets where there are potentially vulnerable consumers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Risk Free to Risqu\u00e9<\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not the first time gambling operators have fallen foul of authorities with this type of promotional activity.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Unibet was in hot water with the UK\u2019s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after offering a \u201crisk free\u201d betting promotion on English Premier League soccer.<\/p>\n

The ASA ordered the company to pull the promotion because it said the language used was \u201cmisleading.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in related news, mischievous industry marketing guerilla Paddy Power has found itself, for once, on the right side of the regulatory authorities.<\/p>\n

The UK advertising watchdog cleared an ad run by the operator in a UK national newspaper that promoted odds on the next president of FIFA<\/a>. The campaign displayed a picture of the embattled incumbent, Sepp Blatter, bearing the legend: \u201cJust f*** off already!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe considered that readers of that section were likely to understand that the ad was intended to be a lighthearted comment on the ongoing allegations of corruption within FIFA, and in particular the controversy surrounding Sepp Blatter\u2019s tenure as FIFA president,\u201d the ASA ruled.\u00a0\u201cIn that context, we considered the use of \u201cf***\u201d was unlikely to cause offence to readers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bet365 is likely to be heavily fined by the Australian Federal Court after a judge ruled last week that the operator\u2019s first deposit promotion was deceptive and misleading. The bonus model, variations of which are in common use throughout the gambling industry, offered \u201c$200 free bets for new customers.\u201d An asterisk then directed visitors to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":31201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBet365 Sign-up Promo Slammed By Australian Court<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bet365 likely to be fined heavily over \u201cweb of deception\u201d bonus promotion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bet365 Sign-up Promo Slammed By Australian Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bet365 likely to be fined heavily over \u201cweb of deception\u201d bonus promotion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-14T17:52:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-15T18:16:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Unknown.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"266\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"189\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/\",\"name\":\"Bet365 Sign-up Promo Slammed By Australian Court\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Unknown.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-14T17:52:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-15T18:16:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Bet365 likely to be fined heavily over \u201cweb of deception\u201d bonus promotion\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bet365-sign-up-promo-slammed-by-australian-court\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Unknown.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Unknown.jpeg\",\"width\":266,\"height\":189,\"caption\":\"The Offending Article: An Australian judge has ruled that Bet365 may not refer to its first deposit bonus as \u201cfree\u201d when there are in fact play-through requirements. 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