The company behind the Danish domain of Entain’s international sportsbook bwin has been hit with a fine for breaching the country’s marketing rules.
A fine of DKK 500,000 (£57,000) was issued by the Copenhagen City Court following a Consumer Ombudsman complaint into ElectraWorks’ marketing campaign.
The campaign in question, orchestrated by ElectraWorks as operator of the Danish bwin domain, was a ‘Risk-Free Gambling’ campaign. The Ombudsman reported the campaign to Danish police for being misleading way back in 2024 after a consumer complaint.
The campaign in question featured a slogan reading ‘risk free gambling up to 1000 DKK’. The consumer who viewed the ad subsequently placed a DKK 1000 bet on the bwin.dk platform, which was lost.
After receiving a DKK 1000 free bet, the customer placed a second wager which was won. However, he took the complaint to the Ombudsman after being paid out winnings of 15 DKK.
Both the consumer and Ombudsman charge that the ad was misleading because the customer ultimately ended up with less money in their pocket – not giving off the appearance of being ‘risk-free’.
The Consumer Ombudsman, Torben Jensen, said: “When a gambling company markets itself as allowing consumers to gamble ‘risk-free’, it goes without saying that they should not be exposed to any financial risk by placing a bet.
“It is therefore important for me to emphasise that it is undoubtedly misleading to market itself as a game being ‘risk-free’ if it is not in fact the case that the consumer does not risk losing money.”
Ads on Danish political agenda
The Copenhagen City Court’s statement went a step further, stating that bwin’s activity constituted ‘illegal marketing’ under the Marketing Practices Act. The Act prohibits companies from advertising which may ‘mislead or could be expected to mislead’ the average consumer.
The court argued that ‘illegal marketing had been going on for several years’, adding that the marketing ‘concerns marketing of games aimed at, among others, young people with a view to inducing new customers to games, which calls for a special degree of caution’.
The penalty comes amid a wider overhaul of gambling advertising laws in Denmark, as the government looks at how the customer protection can be better ensured within its regulatory framework for the industry.
Denmark re-regulated its market way back in 2012, overhauling the monopoly previously held by the Danske Spil state-owned lottery and betting company.
Since then a number of firms have set up shop including LeoVegas, which operates the BetMGM and Nye Expekt sportsbooks, as well as Unibet, bet365 and Stake, among others.
The gambling advertising overhaul, spearheaded by Minister of Taxation, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, will likely include a whistle-to-whistle marketing ban during sports events and a ban on marketing in public places.