Gambling Commission Bans Cross-sell Promotions
U.K.- March 27 2025 www.zonadeazar.com The UK Gambling Commission is banning licensed operators from offering multi-product promotions as they are “potentially harmful”. Bonus re-stakes will also be capped at 10, according to the marketing and promotions update.
In a Gambling Commission promotions update released today (26 March), the regulator has placed a ban on mixed product promotional offers, meaning operators will no longer be able to cross-sell players between certain verticals.
These changes follow a government consultation carried out in 2023, as part of the Gambling Act reform and subsequent white paper.
This, the regulator said, is due to heightened risk for players when gambling across multiple products, rather than a single one.
In its update, the GC said these cross-sell promotions were “potentially harmful”.
“There is also the risk that mixed product promotions confuse consumers because of complex terms and conditions,” the note said.
Limit on how many times bonuses can be re-staked
Additional rules on gambling bonusing limits will also be enforced. Operators will be limited on the number of times bonuses must be re-staked before a player can withdraw winnings from the bonus.
The Gambling Commission said capping the wagering requirement at 10 would decrease the likelihood of harm and improve transparency.
UK gambling promotions update follows 2023 consultation
A consultation was carried out in 2023 that proposed making changes to and restructuring the rules around bonuses, which fall under the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) Social Responsibility (SR) Code 5.1.1 regulation.
The findings of the consultation were published by the Gambling Commission today. It said “most respondents agreed with the need to make changes to the structure, wording and the policy intent” of the regulation.
In the Gambling Commission promotions consultation, the regulator said it understood the law covered a “diverse range of incentives”, which made it difficult to develop new principles.
“The challenge has been to find suitable wording that better reflects what is, or is not, acceptable, distinguishing between the innocuous and harmful incentives. The acceptability of an incentive depends upon the context in which it is offered or accepted, and on its impact on the licensing objectives,” the promotions consultation said.
All changes to gambling promotions will come into force on 19 December.
Commenting on the Gambling Commission promotions update, Tim Miller, executive director for research and policy, said: “These changes will better protect consumers from gambling harm and give consumers much better clarity on, and certainty of, offers before they decide to sign up.”
The new rules follow the Gambling Commission’s update to the Social Responsibility Code on direct marketing by consent, which will ensure operators allow players the option to opt out of marketing across all online channels.
An update to this was released in August. It said the new rules would be enforced in May.
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