The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against Betway Ltd over a YouTube pre-roll ad that showed Chelsea FC logos and fans wearing club gear. The regulator decided the ad was likely to strongly appeal to under-18s, meaning it broke the UK Advertising Code.
The ad, which ran on May 17, 2025, showed football fans wearing scarves and clothing with the Chelsea FC logo as part of a promotion for Betway’s rewards scheme.
Someone complained, arguing that including the club’s logo made the ad more likely to appeal to children or young people.
Betway defended the ad, saying it followed the rules in the Joint CAP and BCAP Advertising Guidance “Gambling and lotteries advertising: protecting under-18s.” The company pointed out that the guidance acknowledges football as something that strongly appeals to under-18s but still allows gambling ads to include material that “specifically identifies a subject of the gambling activity,” like a sports team logo.
Betway also said that its rewards scheme was an essential part of the gambling product being advertised. It said the use of the Chelsea FC logo “was in line with the exemption” since it appeared in a way that “served a similar function to an audio or visual reference.” The company said the ad was designed to “reflect the nature of a prize on offer” and formed part of a campaign to highlight rewards available through Betway.
It then cited a brand lift survey that showed an “8% increase in brand awareness, all of which was from YouTube users age 55+”, arguing that this showed the ad was clearly aimed at an adult audience.
The company added that it had taken steps to reduce links with football by avoiding any footage of live play or wide shots of the stadium. It said the people involved were “competition winners rather than actors” and their appearance was “clearly adult.”
Betway explained that it was allowed to use Chelsea FC branding under its agreement as the club’s Official European Betting Partner. It warned that an adverse ruling “could set a damaging precedent for gambling sponsorships in sport.” The firm added that its marketing Code of Conduct banned the use of players or managers and only allowed the inclusion of logos.
The ad was aimed at logged-in YouTube users aged 25 and over. Betway said this approach complied with the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling’s Code for Socially Responsible Advertising and that YouTube’s own policies provided “further safeguards against under-18s being exposed to age-restricted content.”
Google, which owns YouTube, said that advertisers were responsible for making sure their ads followed the CAP Code.
ASA says Betway YouTube ad would appeal to under-18s
In its assessment, the ASA upheld the complaint. It stated CAP Code rules pointed out that gambling marketing “must not be likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons.” The authority noted that football was an activity of inherent appeal to under-18s but that advertisers were allowed to “specifically identify a subject of the gambling activity” such as a team logo.
The ASA said it would have been acceptable for the Chelsea FC logo “to appear in a standalone context, for example at the end of the ad, where it would act as a visual reference to a subject of the gambling activity.” However, it found that the logo appeared repeatedly “on fans’ scarves, lanyards and hats” and in “team shirts in wall displays and on backdrops within the stadium building.”
The regulator said this presentation “was likely to strongly appeal to children and young people who supported Chelsea FC or followed football more widely”. It ruled that the use of the logo “went beyond any permitted exemption” and was “likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.”
The ASA also found that the ad was shown in a medium that could not effectively exclude under-18s. It stated that YouTube users self-verified their age and that Betway “had not excluded under-18s from the audience with the highest level of accuracy required for gambling ads where their content was likely to appeal strongly to under-18s.”
The ruling referred to Ofcom research from 2025 showing that “81% of 8–17-year olds who had social media used YouTube” and that “20% of 8–17-year olds with their own profile on an online service had a registered user age of at least 18.” The ASA said this showed that “a significant number of children” could view age-restricted content.
The ASA decided that the “ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.” As a result, it stated: “The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Betway to ensure that future ads did not contain content of strong appeal to those under 18 years of age.”
Featured image: Canva / Betway
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