Van Rooyen, the CEO of Sky Network has stated that the plan that the industry is considering regarding banning all forms of TV Ads (Whistle-to-whistle ban), in the United Kingdom during sporting events is going to have an unexpected side effect. He stated that it would do so little to improve consumer protection, as it is going to push and re-direct the advertising investment of the gambling companies to the online realm, where there is fewer regulations and standards when it comes to customer protection.
The Whistle-to-Whistle Advertising Ban
A lot of the UK gambling companies have confirmed that they will comply with the proposed ban that will prohibit any gambling ads from whistle to whistle. It is a move that aims to protect the children that are watching the sporting event from the normalization of gambling. Although this is a good move from the gambling industry, the CEO of Sky Network is pointing out an unexpected side effect.
Sky Network CEO Talks about the Gambling Ads Ban
The CEO of sky Network, Van Rooyen, stated that the voluntary ban that the RGA is going to announce soon would have a small impact on the levels of gambling in the United Kingdom. He noted that the industry spends almost 4x the amount of money on internet ads, as it does for the TV ads. Last month, according to reports from Regulus Partners, TV Advertisement only accounted for fifteen percent of the industry’s £1.56bn they spend in total on commercials, in 2017. Therefore he things a Whistle-to-Whistle is not going t obe that effective.
Therefore, Van Rooyen, who used to be the chief marketing and digital officer for Sky stated that the Whistle-to-Whistle ban is going to lead is going to direct more money and budget to online gambling further. So what it does is pushing the companies to switch from TV ads to online ads. He also added that TV advertising is regulated and protects minors, while online advertisements are less regulated and have less customer and minor protection.
He wrote that if the gambling companies and the RGA are seriously trying to protect vulnerable gamblers, then they should start looking at the media where the companies spend a lot of money. As well as what kind of media has the least protection and regulations levels, and all of these things have one answer, the internet. Therefore, Van Rooyen called for the politicians to look at the rules and laws of advertisement, in a meaningful way, to make sure the same set of rules apply for offline and the online world. When it comes to online gambling, it follows the CAP code, while TV ads follow the BCAP Code, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) administers both of them.
Sky Network has also committed to limit the number of gambling ads to one for each commercial break, starting from the 2019-2020 football season. Sky Network is also going to roll out a new technology “AdSmart,” which is going to give the customers the ability to block gambling ads from 2020.
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