Australia’s largest online betting firm, Sportsbet, has copped a record fine and will be forced to refund thousands of customers after it bombarded people with gambling messages they couldn’t opt out of.
The Irish-owned bookie has been ordered to pay a $2.5 million penalty for repeatedly breaching Australia’s spam laws in 2020 and 2021, a time when online gambling activity soared, with people in various stages of lockdown.
Communications regulator ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) on Thursday said Sportsbet sent more than 150,000 unlawful marketing text messages and emails to more than 37,000 consumers who had tried to unsubscribe between January 2020 and March 2021.
The company also sent more than 3000 marketing texts that had no unsubscribe function.
The messages either offered incentives to people to place bets, or contained alerts about upcoming races, and according to ACMA “had the real potential to contribute to financial and emotional harm”.
Sportsbet’s spamming period covered a time when locked-down Australians increased their spend on online gambling in lieu of travel, socialising and live entertainment.
The company – which competes with Tabcorp, Ladbrokes and Neds for Australia’s gambling cash – has also agreed to repay customers $1.2 million under the careful watch of an independent arbiter over the next three years after dragging its feet on compliance.
“We received complaints from people stating they were experiencing gambling-related problems and were trying to manage the issue by unsubscribing from Sportsbet’s promotions,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
Ms O’Loughlin said Sportsbet had been made aware of the issue numerous times but failed to act appropriately.
The $2.5 million infringement notice is the biggest in ACMA’s history, but even with the $1.2 million refund pledge added in, the penalty pales in comparison to the river of revenue that flows into Sportsbet’s coffers.
According to documents filed by parent company Flutter Entertainment, Sportsbet made $2 billion in revenue in 2020, while the 2021 year was shaping up to be even bigger.
The company, which says 1.2 million people in Australia have an account, has been fined on numerous occasions for breaching advertising laws.
Sportsbet in November was fined $135,000 by NSW regulators after placing prohibited gambling ads on social media and failing to give people xjmtzywthe option to opt out of messages.
It was also fined $22,000 in March 2021 for further wagering advertising breaches.
Over the past 18 months businesses have paid nearly $3.4 million in ACMA-issued infringement notices for breaking spam and telemarketing laws.
The ACMA has also accepted 13 court-enforceable undertakings and issued seven formal warnings to businesses.
