Just a few weeks on from the decision but months after the discussions began, celebrities are to be banned from advertising gambling products on Television and other media platforms. While this may seem just a trivial event, it only takes a few minutes of thought to remember just how many major A-listers have been recently connected with gambling products – from Casinos to Cryptocurrencies. In case you’ve been one of the ones who hasn’t recognised this – here’s a quick list for you to read up on:
Neymar Jr: PokerStars and Neymar Jr struck a partnership a while back, which would be illegal if the new bill is passed
Gwyneth Paltrow: After Terawulf had an equity round, Paltrow offered up $500,000 in Bitcoin to celebrate and promote it
Kim Kardashian: A hard-promoter of Ethereum Max – something that has seen several lawsuits against her recently
Matt Damon: Crypto.com – one of the largest crypto platforms and a seemingly high-list A-cast of celebrities endorsing it to match
Tom Brady: FTX had its’ run at the Superbowl, with newly ‘un-retired’ NFL superstars Brady pushing it to millions of viewers
Harry Redknapp: From Bet Victor to other gambling products, this former manager has been plugging away for a few years at different gaming sites and would be one of the biggest losers.
So just what changes are likely to happen to the list of superstars above and the others we haven’t bothered to mention here? Well, for celebrities, gambling advertisements and endorsements can be huge income streams. Rather than the odd £10,000 payment from a deodorant company or a diet plan, stars have been offered in excess of £1,000,000 just for having them advocate a product or two on a single push. Be it an advert, social post, or even just wearing the gear – all of it would be considered a breach of the new rules and could land them in some very hot water.
Now of course, we’re sure that there will be ways round this, with many alternative gaming links keen to jump on the bandwagon. In fact, there are hundreds of major online casino sites that are run by affiliates and intermediaries that would likely not fall under the jurisdiction of this and could still bypass the ruling to plug major casino brands for a share of the revenue. Whether any of them could afford these million-dollar endorsements remains to be seen, but it is just one of a number of different cards on the table that could be played if they wanted to.
For now, we just sit back and wait for the ruling to come into effect, as there is still a few months to go, but when gambling firms have their names on the Stadiums themselves, or have even bought naming rights to the football leagues and competitions themselves – how can they honestly expect to implement an advertorial ban that would even truly encompass all the marketing options?