Gambling companies lured new players with World Cup pools despite ban

Several gambling companies, including the state-owned Dutch Lottery, illegally advertised on a popular football pool site. Hundreds of thousands of people visited Scorito for World Cup pools and saw advertisements for betting on football matches for weeks. The Gaming Authority considers football pools as games, meaning gambling ads are prohibited, NOS reports.

The regulator issued the gambling companies an ultimatum, and they have removed their ads. They may face fines later.

The Dutch Lottery, which owns Toto, is surprised that football pools are considered a game. “Because Toto wants to comply with the law, the advertisement has been removed, and Toto has asked the Gaming Authority for clarification,” a spokesperson told NOS.

Gambling company Betcity told the broadcaster that it advertised on the football pool site because it didn’t know that these prediction sites were considered online games. “We made analyzes in advance, and it showed that we reached few young adults on the site,” a spokesperson said. Protecting young people against gambling addictions is one of the reasons gambling companies can’t advertise on game sites.

The Gaming Authority has a separate team monitoring gambling companies’ ads during the World Cup. “We don’t see everything, but we also receive dozens of reports from viewers and visitors. We put pressure on companies to adjust the advertising within 24 hours.” Over the past weeks, the regulator already reprimanded one company for using a Dutch celebrity to advertise a World Cup event and another for calling on social media to bet on matches.

The World Cup is an important time for gambling companies. Football supporters wager a lot of money on the matches. This may also be the last football tournament on which gambling companies can advertise at all. Politicians are working to ban a large part of gambling ads, which should take effect sometime next year.