Mr Green, an online gambling operation owned by British bookmaker William Hill, has urgently requested that its UK affiliates remove all casino advertising materials from their websites and social media immediately.
In a message distributed to its UK-facing advertising partners, Mr Green cited “recent changes in compliance” as the reason behind its “urgent request.”
The operator does not clarify whether its gaming product has landed into regulatory trouble prompting the immediate termination of all casino advertising activity.
In the message, Mr Green’s UK affiliates are told that they must stop advertising the operator’s UK Casino and Live Casino offering and that they “must remove all materials promoting these products in the UK such as banners, text links, pop ups, social posts and any other marketing materials” that target players based in the UK.
Mr Green is the flagship brand of online gambling group MRG. The operation holds licenses in a number of regulated European markets for the provision of digital sports betting and casino services.
William Hill purchased MRG in early 2019 for approximately £242 million in a move aiming to reduce the British bookmaker’s reliance on its domestic market and strengthen its digital gambling arm. Being headquartered in Malta, MRG also provides its owner with an EU base in a post-Brexit world.
Sports Betting Still Available to Promote
In its recent message to affiliates, Mr Green said that its UK-facing sports betting product is still available to advertise and that they have replaced all Casino and Live Casino banners with ones promoting its sportsbook.
Affiliates are told to inform their account managers if they have any Casino and Live Casino banners left on their websites.
The gambling operator also notes that it is working hard to resolve the compliance issue that has caused the urgent changes in its UK advertising policies and that it would inform its third-party advertising partners when they will be able to resume the promotion of its Casino and Live Casino offering.
Mr Green is the latest of a series of operators to have been forced to implement changes in the way they service players from the UK and advertise their products there amid growing regulatory pressure.
There have also been operators that have opted to leave the market altogether and explore growth opportunities elsewhere. Early in 2020, Swedish gambling group LeoVegas announced that it was pulling its Royal Panda brand from the UK market. The popular online gaming and sports betting brand shut its doors for local customers on January 31.
It was in January again, when Malta-based online gambling company Max Entertainment announced that it has decided to leave the UK market and shift its corporate focus to well-regulated EU markets. The operator had its license revoked by the UK Gambling Commission in the summer of 2019.
MaxEnt appealed the regulatory body’s decision shortly after it was made public, but has now decided to move on and pursue growth opportunities in other jurisdictions. The operator manages the Slotty, newly launched GoSlotty, Vulkanbet, and GGBet online casino and sports betting brands.
Source: Mr Green demands UK Casino publishers stop advertising
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