Sportsbet to pay $3.7m in fines and penalties for sending 150,000 unwanted gambling ad messages

Online bookie Sportsbet will pay $3.7m in fines and penalties after breaking spam laws by sending more than 150,000 text messages and emails promoting gambling to customers who had tried to unsubscribe.

The amount includes the biggest penalty to date for breaking Australian spam laws, of $2.5m, with the remainder made up by refunds Sportsbet has agreed to pay to customers who made bets after receiving the unwanted marketing messages.

It comes as financial counsellors and suicide prevention experts have called for a complete ban on gambling advertising.

About 37,000 consumers received the Sportsbet spam, which was sent between January 2020 and March 2021 and offered either incentives to gamble or alerts about upcoming races, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said.

Acma said the company, a subsidiary of Irish betting behemoth Flutter Entertainment, also sent 3,000 marketing texts that did not include a way to unsubscribe.

As part of a court-enforceable undertaking, Sportsbet has agreed to appoint an independent person to oversee refunds and monitor its compliance with anti-spam laws.

The report, Gambling and Suicide Prevention: A road map for change, also found that gambling harm is being overlooked in police investigations and coronial processes in possible cases of suicide.