A pressure group, Straight Statistics, was successful in its appeal to the
Advertising Standards Authority to get Betfair to remove two billboard
ads that they claim were misleading.
After examining the facts, ASA ruled that the ads were "likely to be
misleading" after Betfair claimed that returns that could be gained by punters
using its Starting Price (SP) were 40% better that the average SP found in the
industry.
Betfair launched its own Starting Point in December 2007 and uses it in its
advertising campaigns to compare odds in the industry.
In its defence, Betfair said that it had calculated the odds on all the races
run in the industry since the launch of its SP (around 17,000) and found that if
a punter had placed a certain bet at the Betfair Starting Price, they would have
gained 41% more than if they had rate the same wagers at the general SP.
This, however, said Betfair, was an overall average calculation, and it was
understood that punters would realize that not every single bet placed using the
Betfair Starting Price would yield 40% more.
Nevertheless, ASA said that the group's claim that the odds were 40% better
could not be substantiated and called for the removal of the two billboards.
ASA said that the ads were "not qualified in any way" and "considered that
consumers were likely to infer that such a figure was typical of what they could
expect when betting at the BSP, although consumers were unlikely to expect that
was the case in all instances."
The ASA continues to be vigilant about gambling advertising in the United
Kingdom, and has ordered the removal of ads by other groups in the industry,
including Ladbrokes and William Hill.
