Midnite, one of Britain’s fastest-growing bookmakers, has been accused of breaching advertising rules towards children.
The leading UK online casino is in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following complaints by researchers at the University of Bristol.
They allege the adverts breach the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code, prohibiting gambling marketing from having a strong appeal to children.
Midnite Use Popular Footballers Harry Kane and Jack Grealish To Advertise Product
Through a strategy known as ‘content marketing,’ Midnite has been posting material on social media that is designed to be shareable and humorous – often in the form of memes and edited clips.
Gambling companies are governed by rules that limit what they can post, explicitly outlawing adverts that can appeal to children.
The researchers at Bristol noted a series of X (formerly Twitter) posts including high-profile England footballers such as Harry Kane, Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire to advertise their platform.
All three of those players are likely to be of strong appeal to children and cannot be used by gambling firms – and the university’s studies reveal Midnite’s strategy is four times more appealing to children than it is to adults.
With over 4.5 million views across Midnite’s social media channels on the posts, one of the lead researchers Dr Raffaello Rossi argued the nature of the content makes it hard to recognise as gambling promotion.
“These forms of content marketing obscure the promotional nature of the message and blur the lines between entertainment and advertising for a high-risk product.
“These posts appear as entertaining content, making them harder to recognise as gambling promotions and more likely to be shared widely online, especially by children.”
The UK betting site founded in 2018 has quickly become a household name and its recent increased promotional efforts is likely down to the firm’s new Head of Brand Marketing, Andrew Mook who used to work for Flutter.
Midnite was recently announced as Southampton FC’s training kit partner for the 2025-26 season, sponsoring a football club for the very first time.
It also became the official partner for Channel 5’s coverage of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and joined forces with the Snooker World Championship as its official UK betting and casino partner.
Midnite Join Rival Firm Ladbrokes In ASA Trouble Following LadBucks Controversy
Midnite isn’t the only sports betting app in the UK to find itself in trouble with the ASA after Ladbrokes was embroiled in a similar situation.
The ASA ruled the company’s ‘LadBucks’ – a free-to-play game currency that can be converted into rewards like free spins and free bets – was of appeal to children.
The regulator said LadBucks were likely to appeal to under-18s and shared striking similarities to Fortnite’s V-bucks and Roblox’s Robux.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
