Standing its ground on the legality of its in-play betting app, William Hill has launched an online campaign promoting the controversial product.
William hill unveiled a new online-only advertisement for its Click to Call feature, now rebranded as “In-Play”, on Wednesday.
The 30-second “Own the Moment” campaign, appears to mock Tabcorp’s advertising, opening with a similar scene. The ad also said the feature was “so easy, a competitor even made a complaint about it.”
In agreement with TV stations, the ad will go mainstream once the Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed its legality.
William Hill launched its Click-to-Call feature in April, which uses voice recognition technology to enable Aussie punters to place in-play wagers from their mobile devices without the need to make a traditional phone call, but these technological workarounds quickly caught the eye of regulators.
Australia’s 2001 Interactive Gambling Act (IGA), which restricts in-play betting to wagers made during telephone calls or in person at a betting shop, is currently being reviewed.
While competitor Ladbrokes announced that it withdrew the feature in July. William Hill has stood by its product, claiming that it functions fall under the parameters of the nation’s 2001 Interactive Gambling Act.
William Hill Australia’s Chief Executive Tom Waterhouse has also defended the In-play betting product and called it a “game-changer” adding that customers no longer needed to use offshore online gambling operators for live betting.
“We have an In-Play betting solution that is 100% legal and fits within the IGA,” said Waterhouse. “It’s simply about giving customers something better and it’s what they have been crying out for.”
Crownbet, which has also developed a similar in-play betting system in 2014, chose not to roll the product until IGA review is completed.
