ACMA fines Entain over online in-play betting offenses

Entain Pty Ltd, trademarked as Entain in Australia, was subject to enforcement action by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The penalty is issued because the company accepted online in-play bets on a LIV golf tournament.

Online in-play bets, this is bets while a competition is live, are illegal in Australia and accepting such wagers through a regulated website could have serious consequences on business credibility as well as the safety of consumers, argues the regulator.

Entain’s brands, Ladbrokes and Neds, have collectively accepted 78 online in-play wagers during the Bangkok LIV golf tournament in October last year. As a result, the operator will now have to pay the maximum penalty under this penalty AUD$13,320 ($8,800) as per the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

This makes the first time Entain or any other regulated entity in the market has been served with an infringement notice that specifically addresses in-play betting.

Commenting on the case, ACMA Chairwoman Nerida O’Loughlin spoke about the grieve consequences such wagers can have on consumers, arguing that they increase the risk for at-risk gamblers and those suffering from a gambling problems to make spontaneous and ruinous decisions.

Australia has been a very tight market when it comes to regulation with many gambling activities that are normally conducted online blocked in the country. In-play wagers are still accepted, but they need to be placed over the phone, which considerably increases the time and is seen as a dated practice.

Regardless, Australia has been very specific about what it means to protect consumers, with ACMA even going on a per-case basis to ban hundreds of offshore gambling websites that offer online casino products – a completely forbidden vertical in the country.

"Entain is a highly experienced wagering operator, and it is disappointing it did not have internal procedures in place to prevent or detect the error," O’Loughlin argued, commenting on the incident, and said that industry players must meet a very high standard for protecting consumers and accepting wagers.

Ladbrokes accepted 59 bets and Neds accepted 19 bets, the regulator explained. Entain has accepted the penalty and the ruling and has confirmed with the regulator that it has reviewed and enhanced its in-play betting compliance policy to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future.

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