Former anti-EU party domain converted to non-GAMSTOP casino platform

Advertisements for non-GAMSTOP casinos have once again entered the mainstream public domain, further putting UK customers at risk.

In a development that few, if any, could’ve predicted, the website of the Brexit Party – the former political entity of Nigel Farage – is now seemingly acting as an affiliate for casinos that proudly boasts their ‘non-GAMSTOP’ offers. 

This implies that the websites promoted will accept users who are excluded from regulated UK gaming sites. All operators holding a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) must provide links to GAMSTOP as part of licensing conditions.

SBC News wrote about a similar promotion last week, where a global PR newswire ran an advertisement about such a casino. The website, MyStake, was easily accessible by anyone in the UK and certainly in breach of any UKGC regulations.

The most recent case however led to even more headscratching, as it is unusual to see a politically-related domain promoting these types of casinos.

The name ‘Brexit Party’ is no longer used by any active UK political parties, with the party itself having undergone a rebrand to Reform UK, and subsequently switched to a new website. 

However, the domain name for its previous incarnation remains the same. A likely explanation is that the domain expired after Farage moved on to Reform, and was subsequently auctioned or outright bought by the affiliate who is now running it.

Spotlight on self-exclusion due diligence

What is even more interesting though is that the names of casinos listed there include those of Betfair and Betfred – two well-known UK brands that are licensed by the UKGC.

Of importance, both operators have previously fully committed to using GAMSTOP and prevent anyone who has self-excluded from using their services.

The UKGC’s general stance against affiliates promoting non-GAMSTOP casinos is very stringent. There are harsh regulatory punishments for operators found to be working with such affiliates.

UKGC guidelines dictate that operators should ensure that the affiliates they’re partnered with have removed self-excluded customers from their brand-specific marketing lists.

This means that both Betfair and Betfred should be able to demonstrate proactive actions to prevent their marketing materials from being sent to such customers.

But as they are not responsible for the rest of the affiliate’s business practices, the question remains – what about the other websites and the wider UK online space?

SBC News has reached out to Betfair, Betfred, the UKGC, and GAMSTOP for comments.

Update:
– Betfred has responded: “We have no partnership with this site and we have asked for the immediate removal of our logo and link.”

– The UKGC added: “We had previously identified this site and took action. As a consequence, this site no longer features links to unlicensed sites. Only operators that are in fact fully integrated with Gamstop feature on this website. We are advising those operators that this site is falsely promoting them as not being on GamStop.”

– A spokesperson for Flutter UKI, owner of the Betfair brand, commented: “This site is in no way connected to Betfair and is unfortunately another example of the lengths black market and unlicensed operators will go to, to add legitimacy to their own operations.

“We need to see concerted action from the Government regulators and platforms to clampdown on this sort of activity – and protect players who are unfortunately being relentlessly targeted by sites who should not be in business.”