The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is considering launching an investigation into Foxtel concerning gambling advertisements displayed during the airing of an Australia vs New Zealand test cricket match last week. The complaint accusing Foxtel of the alleged violations was filed by ABC News, and the ads involve Parimatch and 1xBat. The latter is a “surrogate” brand created for the purpose of promoting the sportsbook 1xBet.
As reported by ABC News, both sportsbooks operate online and lack licensing in Australia and New Zealand. Their promotion can thus be considered to be in violation of ACMA regulations, although a legal exemption might complicate the situation. Following ABC News’ complaint, an ACMA spokesperson clarified that cases involving unintentional breaches and lack of benefits for the broadcaster can be exempt from the rules, and ACMA has not thus far confirmed if Foxtel’s situation falls under such circumstances. The regulatory body has, therefore, not launched an official investigation yet.
The Many Issues Tied to the Promotion of 1xBet and Parimatch
This is not the first case where the lack of clarity surrounding the 1xBat branding of 1xBet has caused issues. Last week, The Guardian revealed that Cricket Australia had got in trouble with the Pakistani Ministry of Information for promoting 1xBat during a test Australia vs Pakistan game that was aired to a Pakistani audience. The warning followed a complaint by state broadcaster PTV, and the said broadcasting company was forced to temporarily halt its airing of the Australia vs Pakistan Test series as both gambling and the practice of utilising surrogate branding to promote gambling are against Pakistani law. Airing resumed when Cricket Australia removed the 1xBat logo from the footage. According to a Cricket Australia spokesperson, the governing body had not been aware of 1xBat’s affiliation with gambling.
Other controversies 1xBet has been involved in include the facilitation of betting on cockfighting and other illegal forms of gambling, as revealed by the Sunday Times, the loss of its licence from the UK Gambling Commission, and the offering of bets surrounding Australia’s Amateur Cricket leagues. The sportsbook also used to sponsor Chelsea and other Premier League clubs, but all such sponsorship deals were terminated after the Sunday Times published the results of its investigation.
As for Parimatch, the website has been blocked by ACMA since 2022 and is therefore prohibited from targeting Australian clients. Yet, the bookmaker and sportsbook promotes itself as being not only suitable for Australian bettors but “legal” due to its Curacao licence.
Foxtel’s Response
According to a spokesperson of Foxtel, the live feed containing the ads is what is “available to broadcasters outside of New Zealand,” as provided by New Zealand Cricket (NZC). They continued, claiming that Fox Sports Australia could not remove the virtual ads and that the said advertisements did not provide Foxtel Group with “any revenue or benefit.” Thus, the company argued that its broadcasting has not breached Australian law.
NZC also commented on the matter. As outlined by ABC News, NZC claimed that the Parimatch advertisement was excluded from the footage shown to New Zealand viewers, yet failed to provide ABC News with an answer to why the said promotion could be seen by Australians. NZC did emphasise, however, that similarly to Cricket Australia, NZC did not know of 1xBat’s connection to 1xBet and was only made aware of the said fact when Cricket Australia alerted NZC of the issue. The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs informed ABC News that it has commenced investigative work into the ads’ legality.
- Author
Daniel Williams
