Sportsbet CEO Owns Up to Past Mistakes in Advertising and Integrity Failures

Sportsbet CEO Barni Evans has owned up to the company’s big slip-ups in how it handled ads and its duty to protect major sports’ integrity. At an industry event in Sydney, Evans looked back on the company’s history admitting they got caught up in a fierce ad race while ignoring more urgent issues.

Sportsbet CEO Admits Company Failed to Prevent Financial Crimes and Protect Sports Integrity

Evans said Sportsbet underestimated its role in stopping financial crime and ensuring fair sports betting. He pointed out that when he first stepped into his role, the company did not quite get how crucial it was to safeguard against shady activities, but now sees this as a key duty, reported The Guardian.

Evans said the company did not take the necessary steps at the beginning, stressing that Sportsbet failed to warn sports groups about betting patterns that might show integrity threats. He said it took multiple events before Sportsbet saw the need to act and help sports groups spot and tackle possible risks.

The problem of financial crime and following rules has been looked at, with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) telling Sportsbet to improve how it follows anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws last year. Also, reports came out earlier this month showing weak spots in the AFL’s integrity system, revealing it is hard to catch insider betting by players, coaches, and staff.

Evans also slammed the slow rollout of a national self-exclusion system for problem gamblers. He said both the gambling industry and government agencies should shoulder the blame for the sluggish progress. While he recognized that such measures need careful planning, he insisted that setting up a system to help people break their gambling addiction should not have taken seven years.

“We Put Marketing Above Ethics in a Gambling Ad Race”

Looking back at past advertising disputes, Evans felt for bookmaker Tom Waterhouse, who got a lot of flak in 2013 for his pushy marketing campaigns. Evans thought Waterhouse got blamed for practices that were not regulated yet. He added that the wider industry had not set clear limits on what the public would accept.

When it comes to Sportsbet’s advertising strategy, Evans owned up to the fact that the company had joined a reckless race with competitors putting marketing ahead of ethics. Though some in the industry might have thought he should have taken action on his own to cut back on excessive ads, he admitted the company just went along with what the market was doing.

People still engage in a wider debate about gambling ads. The government’s plans to change things are behind schedule, even though people keep worrying about how these ads affect Australians and particularly younger demographics.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said earlier that new rules were taking longer than planned, but she still wants to tackle this issue.Looking ahead, Evans’ honest words show a change in how the industry thinks, owning up to past mistakes while stressing the need to keep a closer eye on the gambling industry and be more responsible going forward.