The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has fined Entain after two of its brands, Ladbrokes and Neds, accepted illegal bets on a golf tournament.
According to the ACMA announcement, the Entain-owned brands accepted 78 live or in-play wagers on an LIV golf tournament that took place in Bangkok in October of 2022. All bets were made on the final day of the event with 59 accepted by Ladbrokes and 19 by Neds.
Following its investigation, the ACMA has issued the maximum fine for this infringement of AU$13,320. This is the first time that the ACMA has penalized a gambling operator for breaching the Gambling Act 2001 with regards to in-play betting.
Speaking of the fine and penalty ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said:
ACMA Fines Entain for Illegal In-Play Bets on Golf Tournament ACMA Fines Entain for Illegal In-Play Bets on Golf Tournament for illegal marketing. This brings the total fines for 2023 to more than €56.1 million.“Online in-play betting increases the risk for those people experiencing gambling harm as it provides fast outcomes and allows for higher frequency of bets. 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.
ACMA Fines Entain for Illegal In-Play Bets on Golf Tournament
According to industry fines tracker website GamblingIndustryFines.com, gambling industry fines in 2022 came to €251,712,034 / $269,532,490 – a significant increase of 443.9% compared to 2021’s total of €44,753,969 / $48,642,992.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.