Betway, Kwiff and Sky Bet Ads Banned by ASA for Appealing to Under-18s

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has reprimanded operators Betway and Kwiff for running ads which were deemed to have strong appeal to under-18s, and also upheld a previous ruling against Sky Bet for the same reason, amid what the ASA called a “wider piece of work”.

Betway uses Chelsea logo

The most recent of these ads was a pre-roll placement on YouTube for Betway on May 17, 2025, which featured football fans wearing clothing and scarves with the logo of English Premier League football club Chelsea. The complainant challenged whether the use of Chelsea’s logo meant the ad would likely be of strong appeal to under-18s.

Despite Betway’s argument that the ad did not use any active football play and that the clothing choices showing the logo were incidental, the ASA ruled against the operator. The ASA cited Ofcom research from 2025 showing 81% of 8-17 year-olds who had social media used YouTube. The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Kwiff features Lewis Hamilton

Meawhile, Kwiff was pulled up for a post on its X account on July 14, 2024. The featured text stated: “A potentially huge weekend for Sir Lewis Hamilton ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone [race car emoji] #F1.” The complainant challenged whether the ad included an individual who was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.

Kwiff argued the image used was reasonable and that motorsports and golf are more adult-oriented. However, the ASA said that in 2024, X relied on users to self-verify their ages on signing up to the platform, prior to the implementation of the Online Safety Act in 2025, and therefore under-18s could falsely claim to be over 18 when creating an account; it was deemed Hamilton could appeal to them. As was the case with Betway, the post cannot appear again in its current form.

Sky Bet revisited

In the case of Sky Bet, the ASA’s ruling replaced an original ruling made in October 2023, but the decision to uphold the issue remained unchanged. The ASA said minor factual amendments have been made to the response.

The ad in question, which did not provoke any complaints to the ASA but was referred to by the ASA by itself, was a promoted post on Twitter (which has since changed its name to X), containing an embedded video clip from The Overlap football podcast. The clip showed a discussion about football and intermittently featured the Sky Bet logo.

The ASA deemed football pundit Gary Neville, who appeared in the video, classed as being at moderate risk of strong appeal to under-18s. The ASA again ruled that under-18s could have falsely claimed to be over 18 and seen the video.

Wider work

Once again, the post is not allowed to appear again in its current form. Given the ad was already banned and the content of the video is now out of date, it is a little unclear as to why exactly the ASA felt the need to effectively reiterate the ban.

The ASA said the ruling “forms part of a wider piece of work in relation to gambling ads which, under strengthened rules, are prohibited from being likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s.”

It is unclear if that wider piece of work means the Sky Bet ruling is tied to the rulings against Betway and Kwiff. Betting.co.uk has reached out to the ASA for comment.