TV Ads Start Adding Up

Ladbrokes was the first company to launch a major ad campaign on television, earlier in October, under the new rules set by the recently enacted 2005 Gambling Act. Its campaign cost million of pounds, reportedly 5 million.

888, operator of Casino-on-Net, is now ready to join Ladbrokes and launch its own ad campaign. The deal, worth 6 million, was awarded to CHI and Partners.

The two companies are registered and legal to operate under the new law. The changes in the UK have brought online casinos - those operating from countries that were "white listed" by the UK government and licensed with the Gambling Commission - to the masses. Not only is it now legal to offer the services, it is even legal to advertise the service across the country.

The TV ad campaign will focus on casino games, with the theme being "life is one big game." Ladbrokes on the other hand focused mainly on sports betting, as its ad featured ex-footballers talking football scores.

888 will not forfeit its football and sports contacts. The company's CEO, Gigi Levy, said sponsorship of Sevilla FC and the World Snooker Championships will continue: "The success of these sponsorship activities is demonstrated in a recent survey showing 888.com with the highest level of brand awareness of any gaming and betting web sites in the UK, which continues to be the industry's most important market," Levy said last week.

The ad campaign is a natural continuation of the company's efforts to spread its services globally, since the ban on online gambling in the US, its previously largest market.