Unibet fined over illegal gambling advertising in New South Wales

The offences relate to Unibet publishing adverts for its the Uniboost, Uplift and Reboost special and enhanced odds products both on its website and on the Apple App Store on 26 November 2020.

The New South Wales Betting and Racing Act 1998 states that it is an offence to publish a gambling advert that offers inducements to participate in any gambling activity.

Betchoice Corporation Pty, trading as Unibet, pleaded guilty three offences during a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court on 15 July and was fined $16,000 per offence, with the overall amount due totalling $48,000. The operator was also ordered to pay $3,900 in legal costs.

“Special or enhanced odds have the ability to induce people to open a betting account when they otherwise may be refraining from gambling and they may encourage people to gamble more frequently,” NSW Liquor & Gaming’s compliance director Darren Duke said.

“During sentencing the Magistrate noted that Unibet had a record of previous convictions and had most recently been fined $15,000 in 2019 for breaches of the betting legislation. 

“The advertisements were designed to entice people to engage with gambling products and are a breach of the legislation.”