Gambling researchers and marketing experts have reported that the online gambling operator Sportsbet is using TikTok to target young female users with advertising aimed at expanding and diversifying its mostly male customer base.
For the time being, gambling advertising is suspended on the short-form video hosting service platform. However, late in 2022, the social media operator agreed to allow Flutter Entertainment-owned Sportsbet to target Australian users as part of a strictly-controlled trial. According to the company’s advertising policy, currently, there is a closed pilot for sports betting in operation for one managed customer who had received permission from TikTok via a specially-held application process.
Right before the US Super Bowl event, the Australian online gambling operator published a video advert featuring a young woman drawing attention to so-called novelty bet markets during the half-time performance of Rihanna. The novelty markets provided people with the chance to place a wager on what outfit Rihana would wear during her performance and how long she would perform for. Punters could also bet on what colour would be the liquid poured on the coach of the winning team after the end of the match.
While a young woman was shown typing into her phone, the video caption implied that “girls group chat” was “going wild” during the half-time show of Rihanna, and Sportsbet had markets on it. A “gamble responsibly” tag was also featured in small print in the video.
Sportsbet’s Advertising on TikTok Aimed at Normalising Gambling among Young Women in Australia
Sportsbet has published other videos featuring Luisa Dal Din, a Sydney-based influencer, with one of them running a caption regarding horse racing.
A TikTok spokesperson commented that the adverts in question were only targeting users 21 or older, and were closely overseen. The frequency of broadcasting was also limited, and the platform’s users were able to opt out of seeing them.
A spokesperson for Sportsbet explained that the adverts had been age-restricted in order to limit the risk of exposing underage individuals to gambling-related content while targeting adult audiences on the platform.
According to one of the advertising experts who reported the issue, Sportsbet was using the TikTok trial to boost its profits and access more potential customers, and that meant finding new markets. Young female users seemed to be enticed to making various bets on the performances of popular artists, such as Rihanna, and such a behaviour was legal from an advertising perspective.
However, the Alliance for Gambling Reform has shared some concerns regarding the regulatory control of the TikTok trial, despite the online video platform’s insistence that the process was subject to strict oversight. According to the anti-gambling advocacy organisation, the sponsored TikTok posts have been targeted particularly at young women as part of the gambling operator’s strategy to expand its customer base.
Late in 2022, the body made a complaint about the ads to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), alleging that the company had violated the advertising rules. At the time, the gambling regulatory body of the state dismissed the complaint. A VGCCC official suggested that the complaint should be lodged with the gambling regulatory authority of the Northern Territory – the Northern Territory Racing Commission – because Sportsbet was licensed there.
- Author
Olivia Cole
