The Advertising Standards Authority cleared gambling advertisements shown beside live Counter-Strike 2 coverage on HLTV.org, ruling on September 16, 2026, that the ads were not directed at under-18s under the UK advertising code.

The case involved UK-facing advertisements for Casimba and The Grand Ivy Casino, operated by White Hat Gaming Ltd. The page included live match coverage, player statistics, team information and betting odds.

The ruling was an advertising decision. It was not a Gambling Commission licensing decision or an enforcement action against White Hat Gaming.

The ASA found no breach, but the case showed how difficult it can be to assess youth exposure when an esports website lacks direct age data for its visitors.

Why the ASA rejected the complaint

The ASA assessed the advertisements under rules 16.1 and 16.3.13 of the CAP Code. The rules cover social responsibility and the targeting of gambling advertising.

The regulator said the page was built around professional competitive esports. It did not consider the presentation to be directed at children or young people, despite the potential for live Counter-Strike coverage to attract under-18 viewers.

The CAP Code prohibits gambling advertisements from being directed at under-18s through the choice of media or context. The ASA also said such advertising should not appear in a medium where more than 25% of the audience is under 18.

The complaint was not upheld, and the ASA required no further action.

Audience data remained incomplete

The ruling highlighted a central problem for esports advertising. HLTV's website analytics did not provide reliable age data for under-18 visitors.

White Hat Gaming submitted referral data showing that users who registered after arriving from HLTV were adults. The ASA said that data did not establish the age profile of the wider audience because only adults could complete those registrations.

HLTV supplied social media figures. They showed that 1.5% of its Instagram audience was aged 13 to 17, while 3.6% of interactions on Twitter came from users in that age group. The ASA said the figures did not directly represent visitors to the HLTV website.

The regulator instead relied on the page's content and context. It concluded that the professional, data-led presentation did not indicate that under-18s were likely to make up more than 25% of the audience.

What the ruling means in Great Britain

The decision gives operators and esports publishers some regulatory clarity. It does not create blanket approval for gambling advertisements around gaming content.

Separate ASA guidance says marketers must consider whether the surrounding activity has strong appeal to under-18s. They must also take reasonable steps to reduce under-age exposure.

A previous ASA ruling involving a virtual football site found a breach after an advertisement was shown to a user known to be 16.

That contrast is significant. The Counter-Strike complaint concerned an open professional esports page where the visitor's age was not verified. The earlier case involved a logged-in user whose age was known.

White Hat Gaming holds active Great Britain remote licences for casino, real-event betting, virtual-event betting, bingo and gambling software, according to the Gambling Commission's public register. Those licences do not remove the separate advertising duties imposed by the CAP Code.

The decision leaves operators and publishers with a practical question. What evidence is sufficient when specialist esports sites attract adult betting audiences and younger gaming fans, but lack direct age data for every visitor?