TV Gambling Ad Ban Not as Impress as Assumed, says Sky CEO

It was not long ago that it was reported that gambling operators had agreed to implement a voluntary ban on television advertising, but the CEO of Sky, Stephen van Rooyen, has already said it does not go far enough.

Van Rooyen spoke out against the “whistle-to-whistle” ban, saying that implement bans on television advertising will have limited impact when no regulation is to be put in place for most gambling advertising, which is not televised, but in the digital domain.

Inconvenient truth

The decision by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) which is made up of operators and industry insiders, to voluntarily put a “whistle-to-whistle” ban in place dealt with concerns raised after 90 minutes of gambling advertising was shown on ITV during this summer’s world cup, but Van Rooyen says more needs to be done, saying:

“You could be forgiven for thinking that this sounds a reasonable plan. The truth is, the facts paint a very different picture.

“What the RGA has failed to address is the inconvenient truth that over 80 per cent of the gambling industry’s advertising is in the largely unregulated online world.”

“If the RGA and gambling companies are serious about protecting vulnerable gamblers, then they should start by looking at where they spend the most money, what has the least level of regulation and where there is most evidence of harm: the online world.”

Impact

The main losers from the television advertising ban are likely to be the broadcasters more than gambling companies, as the former will need to fill up to 20% of advertising space that previously contained gambling ads.

Whether there will be an impact on operators and problem gamblers, despite the prevalence of online advertising, remains to be seen.