The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against two of LiveScore Bet’s ads, which were found to have appeared to minors, a violation of UK regulations.
Complaint That LiveScore Displayed Gaming Ads to Minors
The complaint concerned two ads shown on LiveScore, a soccer score app, on January 10 this year. The LiveScore app, unlike the LiveScore Bet platform, is accessible to minors.
The first ad, seen on an Android device, showed live soccer scores with the LiveScore Bet logo and a toggle button. Switching on the toggle revealed betting odds and linked to the LiveScore Bet app.
The second ad, on an IOS device, displayed team lineups with three different odds that redirected to the LiveScore Bet app when clicked.
LiveScore Bet Was Unable to Replicate the Reported Issue
LiveScore Betting and Gaming highlighted that its LiveScore and LiveScore Bet were distinct products in the same family. The company explained the app was chosen for advertising due to its mainly adult audience.
The company asserted the LiveScore app had an age-gating tool to prevent minors from seeing gaming content. The app would display odds only to users who identified as adults.
LiveScore Bet’s testing of the under-18 version of the app could not reproduce occurrences of gambling content shown to minors, reaffirming its belief that the app functioned correctly.
The company acknowledged a problem with a historical IOS app version that showed gambling content despite filters yet asserted that testing indicated the displayed odds did not link to additional gambling content.
LiveScore Bet concluded that the app’s latest version was functioning properly.
ASA Upheld the Complaint and Warned LiveScore Bet
The ASA reviewed the issue and noted that new LiveScore app users needed to choose an age category, with a warning that some content might be unsuitable for minors. Based on the selection, users saw different app versions.
The ASA recognized that LiveScore Bet couldn’t replicate the Android issue, yet the ASA saw the ad in the under-18 version.
The IOS ad was considered correctly targeted, despite being caused by a technical problem.
Consequently, the ASA upheld the complaints, stating that the ads breached UK regulations and should not appear in the under-18 version of the LiveScore app again. The ASA warned the operator to remain alert and prevent future problems.
- SCCG Management. The Gambling Industry’s Global Connector. Access Here.
- Source: SCCGManagement.com