Betting and gaming giant William Hill has received a reprimand from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for an in-app promotion that misled users over how to qualify for a reward.
In an advertisement for Marble Race Live which appeared in the William Hill mobile app from 17 to 19 May 2025, the banner headline read: “Enjoy £40 on us, when you opt in and stake £20.”
You had to look at the small print to see the offer around its marble racing game was only triggered after a customer had made a minimum stake of £40, twice the amount featured prominently in the artwork’s call to action.
It is the second time in recent weeks that the gaming side of the business has fallen foul of the authority.
In late September William Hill was in hot water with the ASA due to an ‘irresponsible’ £5 slots promotion in one of its high street shops.
William Hill Blames Human Error
The ASA investigated after receiving a complaint saying that the headline was misleading.
In presenting its defence, William Hill admitted that a typographical error had occurred when the original template for the offer was being manually altered for use online and in the mobile app.
The firm pointed out that only one advert was affected and that it had targeted a relatively small group of up to 3,057 of its customers.
In addition, any user clicking through to the promotion was met with the correct terms and conditions before opting in.
The ASA ruling on WHG (International) Ltd trading as William Hill Online, acknowledged that the small print contained the correct terms but because the main headline stipulated that a stake of only £20 was eligible for the offer, the ad was misleading.
As a result, William Hill was told not to repeat the ad in the same format and to ensure any claims regarding future offers do not contradict the relevant terms and conditions.
It has not all been bad news though as William Hill owner evoke announced a strong outlook for the rest of the financial year after delivering Q3 2025 results this week that showed group revenue of £435 million for the quarter, a 5% rise year-on-year.
Flutter Fires Warning After Gary Neville Ruling
While William Hill held its hands up to a basic transgression, UK betting companies have found themselves increasingly under the legislative spotlight and some are complaining that scrutiny is becoming too fussy.
Last week, the ASA upheld a complaint against a Sky Bet ad featuring Gary Neville that was posted on social media channel X.
The ASA ruled that the ad was at risk of appealing to under-18s due to the former Manchester United player’s popularity on social media.
When did the social media post appear? Back in February 2023.
Who made the complaint? It wasn’t a member of the public; it was the ASA itself.
Sky Bet operator Flutter Entertainment argued that the post contained a clip of the retired footballer talking on The Overlap, a YouTube series aimed at an audience aged 25 and over.
As such, it believed the ad did not risk being of strong appeal to users under the age of 18, as per guidance set out in the Committee of Advertising Practice Code.
The ASA counter-argued that across X and Instagram Neville is followed by over 135,000 accounts registered to users under 18, exceeding the 100,000 limit set out in its own guidelines.
Therefore the ruling against Bonne Terre Ltd trading as Sky Bet was upheld.
A spokesperson for Flutter warned that while the ASA is focussing on perceived threats from UK operators, there is a far greater danger lurking elsewhere.
“We are now in a situation where a regulated operator is reprimanded over a tweet promoting a football show to over 25s while illegal black-market operators flood the internet and social media without any checks.
“Not one person complained about this tweet, either to us or the ASA.
“Instead, the ASA lodged a complaint with itself and upheld its own complaint.
“We can only imagine the intense pressure the ASA is being put under by anti-gambling campaigners, but this ruling defies both precedent and common sense.”
Betway Blocked From Using Chelsea Badge
In another ruling last week, Betway incurred a telling off from the ASA after a YouTube advert screened in May featured fans in clothing that carried the badge of Premier League Chelsea.
The UK-licensed betting firm is the London club’s Official European Betting Partner and claimed that it had a contractual right to use the logo in an ad that was targeted at over-25s.
The ASA ruled that the advert could have been seen by a significant number of children using false dates of birth when registering YouTube accounts.
Betway claimed that banning the advert would be a “damaging precedent for gambling sponsorships in sport”.
