£1.17m fine for marketing to vulnerable consumers
09 March 2022
Online gambling business Bonne Terre Limited, trading as Sky Betting and Gaming, is to pay a £1.17m fine for sending promotional emails to customers who had self-excluded or opted out of receiving marketing.
On 2 November 2021, the operator distributed a Sky Vegas promotional offer of “Bet £5 get 100 free spins” to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from the operator’s marketing emails.
These actions breached licence conditions aimed at ensuring gambling in Britain is socially responsible.
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.”
Mr Rhodes added: “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 latest fine from the Commission follows enforcement action in recent weeks against operators 888 and BetVictor which saw financial penalties totalling £11.4m.
Read Bonne Terre Limited's full penalty.
Note to editors
- Self-exclusion is a tool used by consumers who feel they are having trouble controlling their gambling and request that the operator refuse their service. The Gambling Commission insists that all operators offer this facility
- Journalists can contact our press office on 0121 230 6700 or email: communications@gamblingcommission.gov.uk
For all media enquiries, please contact the Gambling Commission press office.
Last updated: 9 March 2022
Show updates to this content
No changes to show.