Flutter Entertainment‘s Sky Bet and Paddy Power brand have got their World Cup 2026 marketing campaigns underway. But in this tricky era for betting marketers in the UK, they may want to tread carefully.

Both brands have used celebrities in their campaigns. In Sky Bet’s case, the firm’s advert features two of its long-running footballing partners, former Manchester United striker and Ireland international Roy Keane, and former Manchester City and Aston Villa right-back and England international Micah Richards.

As for Paddy Power, its ad features EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, who has been working with the Irish bookmaker since 2024, alongside long-time football partner Peter Crouch (ex Liverpool, Tottenham and England, among others), and former Ireland coach Mick McCarthy.

Both ads also go for similar themes – largely mocking a perceived Americanisation of football and dismissing the term soccer, while celebrating the passion and community spirit of European football fandom, or more specifically UK fandom in Sky Bet’s case.

“This summer’s World Cup isn’t just a tournament; it’s the biggest moment of the year,” said Harry Philipps, Marketing Director for Sky Bet.

“It will be bigger than ever before with more games and more teams, and we want to use this as an opportunity to celebrate with our customers through content featuring our talent, alongside our brilliant £5m jackpot.

“Our new advertising campaign aims to fuel World Cup fever in an entertaining and positive way, demonstrating Sky Bet as a leading player in the space.”

The tricky business of betting campaigns 

With the World Cup just over a week away, Sky Bet and Paddy Power are not the only UK brands to get their marketing and advertising campaigns underway.

There is a big elephant in the room for these companies to consider, however, this being the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and its interpretation of the CAP Code, the guidelines governing British advertising practices.

The code has become a complex puzzle one for operators to navigate of late. One of the trickiest rules to navigate is around the use of celebrities and well known figures, and whether or not they are of strong appeal to young audiences, which cannot be targeted or promoted to directly. 

With regards to Paddy Power and Sky Bet, both brands have been left off the hook before for their adverts featuring Crouch and Richards, respectively. A 2023 complaint against both brands was dismissed by the ASA, which noted that Richards’ career ended in 2015 and Crouch’s in 2019.

On the face of it, the authority’s stance seems to be that retired football players and personalities are fair game. 

However, in October 2025 the ASA ruled against Sky Bet for a promotional tweet featuring Gary Neville, stating that although the former Manchester United and England player was retired, his status as a pundit made him ‘moderate risk’.

The problem UK betting marketers may have in 2026 is the impact any changes in circumstance in their celebrity and sporting partners careers could have on their perceived ‘appeal to young people’.

A clip of former manager McMarthy’s famous response of ‘it can’ to a sports journalist’s question about whether Blackpool FC’s poor run of form in 2023 “can’t go on like this, can it?” has become a popular internet meme. 

Does this mean that the 67 year old Yorkshireman, who delivers the ‘it can’ catchphrase in Paddy Power’s World Cup advert, has a strong appeal to younger consumers?

Likewise, Danny Dyer is known more for his films and TV shows targeted at an adult audience. Yet the actor is also known as the father of influencer Dani Dyer, father-in-law to West Ham player Jarrod Bowen, and has just launched a primetime game show on ITV, Nobody’s Fool.

Does this mean that his appeal to younger consumers has increased too?

Whether or not these adverts breach the CAP Code is ultimately up for the ASA to decide, and for members of the public to complain about if they so wish – researchers from the University of Bristol have been particularly vocal about gambling ads lately.

However, as a recent ASA decision on a Betway advert featuring Arsenal legend Theirry Henry shows – the ASA cleared the ad featuring the retired footballer while the above mentioned one with Neville was ordered removed – its not entirely clear what operators can or can’t do under the CAP Codde.

A busy summer awaits the UK advertising watchdog and its determinations...