Offshore casinos advertised free-to-play twin sites to dodge New Zealand's gambling ad ban

1News reported in September 2023 that advertising overseas gambling websites is illegal in New Zealand, but some online casinos had found a way round it. Section 16 of the Gambling Act 2003 stops overseas companies advertising paid gambling sites, yet ads for free-to-play casino sites need not follow it. JackpotCity had been advertising its free site on radio and television in New Zealand for several years; Wildz ran free and paid sites that looked identical.

The Department of Internal Affairs said it saw such sites as a gateway to a site where people spend real money, and that because of the close association with paid sites of almost identical names, the ads contravened Section 16. It had written to three advertisers asking for the ads to be withdrawn. The Problem Gambling Foundation said it was concerned about normalising gambling, with the paid site a click away.

Broadcasters said the ads were approved by the Commercial Approvals Bureau and ran only late, with TVNZ showing them after 10pm in adult-only content and Sky after prime time.

Advertise a free-to-play site with the same name and look as the paid casino, since the ban covers only paid gambling.

The ad ban targets paid gambling sites, so a free-to-play site is not covered on its face.

A free site with the same brand name and look carries the casino brand into ads.

The paid site is one click away from the free one.

Enforcement depends on offshore operators cooperating, which the DIA noted.

A rule defined by product category invites a lookalike product outside the category; regulators then argue about association, not labels.

The ASA had received six complaints since 2017: four found no grounds, and two about a Wellington JackpotCity billboard were partially upheld, because the URL and the disclaimer 'This is not a gambling website' did not adequately separate the free site from the paid one. The billboard could no longer run in that form. The DIA said one gambling organisation's parent had agreed to stop a targeted ad channel, and it was looking into a complaint about Wildz. The outcome of the letters is not reported.