Online Gambling Providers in Spain Introduce New Ad Rules

Spanish online gambling companies have just unveiled the decision to introduce new advertising code. With this step, local casino operators want to protect themselves from restrictive measures of the government.

More Details

Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) gaming authority has just agreed with amendments to a voluntary advertising code put forward by the local gambling association Jdigital. New advertising rules will come into effect starting from January 15, 2020.

Online gambling ad changes resemble the similar modifications made in other regulated industries, including responsible gambling advertising, the prohibition of participation of athletes in gambling content and not displaying anyone during gambling activity under the age of 25. The recently introduced campaign also prescribes that welcome bonuses should be limited to a maximum of €200 while promotional offers are not allowed during live sessions of sports, racing, and events of “competitive nature.”

Despite the stringent ban, Spanish authority doesn’t the blanket ban on all betting advertising during live sports sessions. As a reminder, the UK market is familiar for the ‘whistle-to-whistle’ advertising ban which begins five minutes before the start of the event and lasts five minutes after the completion of the event.

Expectations

Spanish gambling operators, including famous providers like Bet365, GVC Holdings and The Stars Group, Luckia and R Franco, believe that new self-imposing code will alert the government that harsher measures should be avoided. During the period of the previous istration, there was a threat of an entire crackdown on gambling ads which was ed by the local ombudsman.

Meanwhile, elections in Spain have ended without an outright winner and the leading PSOE party is looking for in the Parliament to form a majority option. It is expected that the ruling PSOE party will enter a coalition with anti-austerity party Unidos Podemos (UP), famous for seeking strict restrictions for Spain’s gambling operators.

During the pre-election period, UP Party has been included in an affair against the ruling PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez. The situation culminated after popular artist and member of UP, Adan Zurdanov, claimed in a TV interview that “his life had been so ruined by local bookmakers to the point that he couldn’t afford to buy food.“

Source:

“Spain’s online gambling operators agree to new ad rules“, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, November 19, 2019.