UK online gambling operator Gamesys is reducing its marketing exposure for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the UK’s advertising watchdogs are warning sportsbooks to mind how they promote their new eSports betting markets.

On Thursday, the Gamesys Group issued a trading update for the first quarter of 2020, during which revenue increased nearly one-fifth year-on-year to £155.3m. The company credited “strong growth” in Asia, a “solid performance” in the UK and “healthy double-digit growth” in the US. Trading to date in the current quarter is “broadly in line” with its Q1 trends.

Gamesys used the release to acknowledge the fact that the “unprecedented COVID-19 crisis” meant that people – including children and those with problem gambling tendencies – were now spending a greater amount of time at home and consuming more media, be it TV, radio or other platforms.

As such, Gamesys has decided to “suspend untargeted customer marketing” and will cease all UK TV and radio advertising “until current social restrictions are eased.” The company will continue to market its brands online although it will suspend “direct-mail marketing and untargeted digital advertising.”