Sky Bet Tweet Featuring Gary Neville Banned Over Gambling Advertisement Rules

18 October 2023
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Tom RichardsonBBC Newsbeat


A Sky Bet tweet featuring Gary Neville has been banned for breaking guidelines on betting adverts.


The post utilized an embedded clip of the ex-footballer anticipating Premier League winners on YouTube series The Overlap.


Sky Bet's logo design appeared throughout the video, which ended with text mentioning: "Brought to you by Sky Bet".


The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled Neville was "likely to be of strong attract under-18s" - which Sky Bet turned down.


The ASA's code states gambling adverts ought to not attract children or youths, "especially by reflecting or being connected with youth culture".


They say their rules are based upon the truth that gambling is not for under-18s, so adverts on the topic can't be directed at that age in any way.


'Flawed procedure'


Sky Bet stated The Overlap, sponsored by the business and produced by Neville, was "noticeably adult in tone and did not feature any material of a childish nature".


It likewise explained that the footballer, a star of Manchester United's "Class of '92", ended his professional profession in 2011.


An 18-year-old today would have been 5 or six at the time, the company had argued.


But the ASA, which enforces UK marketing guidelines, stated it had actually determined Neville had 135,000 under-18 fans throughout Instagram and X, previously referred to as Twitter.


It acknowledged this was a "little percentage" of his integrated following on both, which was 7.1 m when it released its investigation in March 2023.


But the authority believed the general number was "significant" adequate to conclude the advertisement was reckless.


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The advertisement including Neville was a promoted tweet so the ASA said SkyBet had actually been informed not to release it once again.


Its ruling also prohibits them from including him again in any media that isn't strictly set up to omit under-18s.


It stated it had informed Sky Bet not to consist of anyone with a strong interest under-18s in their future advertising.


The ASA stated age figures for Neville's TikTok and Facebook followings were not offered.


X told the regulator the advertisement did not breach any of its current policies and it had actually not gotten any problems.


A spokesperson for Sky Bet's moms and dad business Flutter said: "We essentially disagree with this choice and the problematic procedure which led to this result - it defies both precedent and good sense.


"The ASA did not receive a single problem from the general public or broader stakeholders about the social networks post in ."


It said it would also seek "an independent evaluation" of the case.


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