14 November 2025
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie
UK regulators have moved to tighten the rules on how casino brands promote offers, communicate with customers, and publish marketing content on social platforms. The Gambling Commission confirmed a ban on mixed‑product promotions and a ten‑times limit on bonus wagering. The Commission also set new expectations for opt‑in marketing. CAP and the ASA widened the reach of the advertising codes online and updated guidance on youth appeal. The changes have begun to reshape the way casino operators plan campaigns and design product journeys.
The new measures function as a cumulative pressure. They curtail cross-sell promotions that once underpinned acquisition spikes, require more explicit presentation of significant terms, and bring non-paid brand content into closer regulatory scrutiny. Casino brands anticipate a near-term increase in compliance and CRM workload, followed by a gradual shift toward simpler offers and adult-centric creative across paid and organic channels.
UK Gambling Rules: Before vs After
| Feature | Before | After | Business impact |
| Bonus wagering | Typical 25x–40x on bonus funds | Capped at 10x | Lower breakage, clearer value, reduced headline appeal |
| Mixed‑product promos | Cross‑sell ladders across sportsbook and casino | Single‑product entry and reward | Fewer forced journeys, cleaner attribution |
| Significant terms | Dense footnotes, small print | Larger type, front‑loaded terms | Higher compliance time, fewer disputes |
| Direct marketing | Global opt‑in for all products | Opt‑ins by product and channel | Smaller lists, higher engagement on consented streams |
| Social content scope | Brand posts are often treated as non‑ads | Non‑paid brand posts are more often in scope | Tighter reviews, reduced youth‑appeal risk |
Promotions and Wagering Caps
In a March 2025 update, the Gambling Commission announced that mixed-product promotional offers would be prohibited and that bonus wagering requirements would be capped at ten times, with implementation from January 19, 2026.
Tim Miller, the Commission’s Executive Director for Research and Policy, said the package would “better protect consumers from gambling harm and give consumers much better clarity on, and certainty of, offers before they decide to sign up.”
Operators and affiliates have begun removing legacy promotions tied to 30x or 40x wagering. Promo hubs are being restructured to align entry and reward to a single product, and copy teams have been moving significant terms higher in the hierarchy on mobile, especially as online casino options continue to diversify. ASA AdviceOnline has reiterated expectations around the prominence of key terms and easy access to full terms in non-broadcast ads.
Direct Marketing and Consent
From May 1, 2025, online operators were required to provide opt-in choices by product and by channel, separating email, SMS, and push notifications. The Commission positioned the requirement as a way to ensure customers do not receive gambling marketing they do not want.
CRM teams describe smaller reachable audiences and higher engagement on narrower lists. Consent-management and marketing-automation vendors report increased demand from mid-tier operators seeking to rebuild preference centres and audit trails.
Social Media Remit and Guidance
On September 1, 2025, CAP extended the non-broadcast advertising code to include specified non-paid social media content from licensed operators targeting UK consumers, including those without a UK-registered address. The ASA framed the change as closing a gap in brand content that had not previously been adjudicated as advertising. CAP scheduled a short review window to monitor early effects.
In October 2025, CAP and BCAP updated guidance on protecting under-18s, reiterating the stricter “strong appeal” test first introduced in 2022 and establishing a rule of thumb for assessing youth followings in ads. Law firms noted that the threshold is indicative rather than absolute and that context still matters.
Creative Direction and Product Pacing
Guidance on strong appeal continues to steer campaigns toward adult-centric themes and away from youth-coded celebrity or creator tie-ins. Separately, the Commission’s wider programme on game intensity has slowed slot pace and reduced celebratory effects, changes that operators say alter session rhythm and the framing of marketing messages around on-screen spend and time prompts.
Operational impact and costs
Legal and compliance teams have assumed a more significant role in approving creative and promotional materials. Copywriters describe longer cycles to reconcile clarity with brand tone in small mobile spaces. Agencies anticipate a modest rise in acquisition costs as cross-sell mechanics unwind; however, client teams also report fewer complaints and disputes over unclear terms after these terms are pushed into more prominent positions.
Industry view
Trade groups and advisers interpret the measures as a continuation of the 2023 White Paper programme rather than a break from it. Executives say the marketing mix is moving from headline offers to retention and clarity, with creative designed to appeal to adult audiences. The broad effect is incremental, but it touches most steps of the acquisition and retention journey.
Measurements and early signals
Internal dashboards at large operators now track complaint volumes related to promotions and the prominence of key terms in creative content. Email teams report lower overall list size and higher click‑to‑open ratios after preference centres were rebuilt. Agency heads describe client briefs that specify adult-centric cues and request pre-flight youth-appeal checks for personalities in ads.
These signals suggest that a marketing ecosystem is adapting to new boundaries rather than resisting them.
Final Thoughts
The UK regime now places tighter boundaries around how casino brands advertise and promote. The business impact is evident in fewer complex promotions, stricter consent requirements, and closer scrutiny of social content. Within those limits, operators continue to compete on product, service, and brand tone, with marketing that aims to be clear, verifiable, and adult-facing.
The changes arrive in stages and continue to evolve through guidance updates. While the calendar runs toward the January 2026 milestone for promotions, the direction is established. Casino brands now operate in a regime that prioritises clarity and explicit consent, with social content increasingly treated as advertising, rather than before. The commercial adjustment is visible, and for many operators it has already begun.