The Guardian places sportsbook under review

The Guardian has placed its recently launched online sports betting site Gowager “under review” after its readers raised questions over the ‘socially responsible’ newspaper’s decision to operate a gambling service.

A spokesperson for The Guardian confirmed it was reconsidering its promotion of online gambling products with the review coming amid growing opposition to the promotion of gambling among its readership.

The newspaper, which recently raised concerns over the use of fixed-odds betting terminals, has been faced with an accusation of hypocrisy following its decision to launch the FSB Technology-powered Gowager site earlier this year.

Furthermore, a recent poll of The Guardian readers indicated more than half (52%) were against the newspaper advertising gambling services ““ up from 38% five years earlier.

“Our commercial team has acknowledged that this is an area that is currently under review,” a Guardian News & Media spokesperson said.

“In the meantime – and as a result of the concerns raised – we will be increasing our transparency with our readers about our work in this area,” the spokesperson added.

Although FSB declined to comment on the review, the supplier is thought to have worked closely with The Guardian to produce an online sportsbook tailored to the newspaper’s specific readership.

On announcing the tie-up in February, FSB chief executive David McDowell said it had “worked really hard to integrate sports betting into the site in a non-obtrusive way” with the product only promoted via The Guardian‘s sports pages.

And eGaming Review understands that The Guardian was careful to ensure its provider would not offer or cross-sell casino games and would be located in the UK paying both UK gaming duty and betting tax.

FSB last week announced a deal to integrate Sporting Solutions’ pricing data, an agreement which will see Gowager benefit from a wider range of sports betting opportunites.