News in brief: JackpotJoy email banned; Betfred TV campaign; QuickFire
Advertising Standards Authority bans Gamesys' "misleading" JackpotJoy email campaign.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Jackpot Joy email campaign judging it to be misleading following a complaint. The email, which was generated when existing customers referred a friend, promised players a 100% cash match welcome bonus and to reward the player and the referee with an extra £10 after playing their first deposit. Due to an error, the terms and conditions for the promotion had not been linked to the email, so players were unaware that they had to make a further deposit to receive the extra £10. As a result, the ASA has decreed that the email must not be sent out again in its current form.
Betfred has launched its first-ever TV advertising campaign to promote its mobile and in-play products. The advert will run this month and January next year on Sky Sports and ESPN.
Software developer QuickFire, powered by Microgaming, has announced three European operators have gone live with its Flash casino product. Roulette69 and Tain will be able to offer a portfolio of more than 150 casino games, while Stan James will offer Microgaming’s casino games through QuickFire.
The Spanish regional and federal governments will meet this week to discuss the final form of a draft bill to regulate its online gambling market, due to be presented to Parliament early in the New Year, however a joint statement by three industry bodies has expressed concerns over proposed taxation levels.
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), Spanish Association of Online Gamblers (AEDAPI) and EGBA, a not-for-profit association of several of Europe’s largest gaming and betting operators, welcomed the bill but said it would be “counterproductive” if the taxation on turnover applied to sports betting is retained in its final form.
“A betting tax on turnover (applied to every transaction) is not the right way to tax the industry, even if the rate were lower than the proposed 10%, as it does not allow operators to offer competitive products to consumers” said Sacha Michaud, president of AEDAPI. “A tax applied to gross gaming revenue, defined as turnover less winnings, to be enacted for all other forms of gambling in Spain, is the only sensible way to effectively tax sports betting,” Michaud added.