The UK Gambling Commission has fined Flutter-owned Sky Betting and Gaming £1.7 million (€2.03 million) for sending promotional ‘free spins’ emails to customers who had self-excluded or opted out from gambling activities.
Online gambling company Bonne Terre Limited, trading as Sky Betting and Gaming sent out the promotional emails through its SkyVegas brand in November of 2022 during Safer Gambling Week. An investigation carried out by the UKGC found that the offer of “Bet £5 get 100 free spins” was sent to 41,395 self-excluded customers and to a further 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from the company’s marketing emails.
According to the UKGC, these actions are a clear violation of licensing conditions and reveal that the company did not take into account the damage that could be inflicted upon vulnerable, recovering addicts through these emails.
Speaking of the investigation and subsequent penalty, Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission Chief Executive, said:
“Self-excluded customers are likely to be suffering gambling harm and should absolutely not be sent direct marketing that could tempt them back into gambling.
We would advise all operators to learn from Sky Betting and Gaming’s costly errors and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent the self-excluded, and those who have clearly rejected marketing, from receiving promotional material.”
He went on to add:
“This latest fine would have been a lot higher had Sky Betting and Gaming allowed any of the self-excluded customers to actually gamble, failed to cooperate, and not taken decisive action aimed at preventing a repeat.”
This is just the latest in a series of fines issued to gambling operators in recent weeks. 2022 has seen financial penalties handed out to 888 and BetVictor for social responsibility failures. This brings the total amount of gambling industry fines issued so far this year to £15.1 million (€18.1 million).
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.