Sky Bet Tweet Featuring Gary Neville Banned Over Gambling Advertisement Rules

18 October 2023
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Tom RichardsonBBC Newsbeat


A Sky Bet tweet featuring Gary Neville has actually been banned for breaking guidelines on gambling adverts.


The post used an embedded clip of the ex-footballer forecasting Premier League winners on YouTube series The Overlap.


Sky Bet's logo design appeared throughout the video, which ended with text specifying: "Brought to you by Sky Bet".


The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled Neville was "most likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s" - which Sky Bet declined.


The ASA's code states gambling adverts must not attract kids or youths, "specifically by reflecting or being associated with youth culture".


They state their guidelines are based upon the reality that betting is not for under-18s, so adverts on the topic can't be directed at that age group in any method.


'Flawed procedure'


Sky Bet said The Overlap, sponsored by the company and produced by Neville, was "noticeably adult in tone and did not feature any content of a childish nature".


It likewise mentioned that the footballer, a star of Manchester United's "Class of '92", ended his expert profession in 2011.


An 18-year-old today would have been five or six at the time, the business had argued.


But the ASA, which imposes UK marketing rules, stated it had actually calculated Neville had 135,000 under-18 fans throughout Instagram and X, formerly understood as Twitter.


It acknowledged this was a "small percentage" of his combined following on both, which was 7.1 m when it launched its examination in March 2023.


But the authority believed the total number was "substantial" sufficient to conclude the advertisement was irresponsible.


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The advertisement featuring Neville was a promoted tweet so the ASA stated SkyBet had actually been informed not to publish it once again.


Its ruling likewise prohibits them from including him again in any media that isn't strictly set up to exclude under-18s.


It stated it had told Sky Bet not to consist of anyone with a strong appeal to under-18s in their future advertising.


The ASA said age figures for Neville's TikTok and Facebook followings were not readily available.


X informed the regulator the ad did not breach any of its current policies and it had actually not received any problems.


A representative for Sky Bet's moms and Flutter stated: "We essentially disagree with this decision and the flawed process which led to this result - it defies both precedent and common sense.


"The ASA did not get a single problem from the general public or wider stakeholders about the social media post in question."


It said it would likewise look for "an independent evaluation" of the case.


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