On November 3, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a new royal decree introducing stricter advertising for gambling, covering television, radio, YouTube videos, and social media. These improved restrictions are aimed at reducing the damage caused by gambling and reducing the exposure of young people to igaming content.
The Spanish Council of Ministers passed a new royal decree on gambling advertising on Tuesday. The new decree implements strict rules for advertising gambling to reduce the risk of gambling among young people. According to the decree, sponsorship of games of chance is prohibited. Last week, consumer minister Alberto Garzon announced that existing partnerships would be allowed to continue until the end of the football season.
The new regulations limit the advertising of gambling on television, radio, and even on YouTube videos from 1 pm to 5 pm. In addition, advertising via social networks is only permitted to subscribers of the advertiser. In light of this, the new advertising restrictions on gambling will not apply to the state lotteries of the Spanish National Organization for the Blind (ONCE) and the Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE).
The new decree limits the welcome bonus to a one-time offer of up to EUR 100. Operators are prohibited from offering additional bonuses, with the exception of contacting individual customers with verified accounts for exclusive offers. Under the new rules, past or current athletes will not be able to participate in promotions or advertisements related to gambling. In addition, special filters should be used for online gambling advertising to protect the younger population.
Will the new restrictions lead to the growth of the black market?
In February of this year, improved restrictions on gambling ads were announced. Government officials have tried to reduce online gambling advertising by up to 80%. In April, Spain published article 37.11 / 2020 of the Royal Decree limiting news and advertising related to gambling during the pandemic. Thereafter, in July, the restrictions were updated and the European Commission informed of the measures the country plans to take to reduce the damage caused by gambling.
The Spanish gambling industry has raised concerns about the rapid action. According to the Spanish Association of the Online Gambling Industry, Jdigital, which represents more than 80% of the licensed operators in the country, the new restrictions could lead to growth in the black gambling market.
The association viewed the new measures as extreme and compared them to the ban on advertising gambling. Jdigital said no evidence had been presented to support the need for more stringent regulation of gambling advertising. In addition, the association pointed out that even Garzon, who introduced measures to combat gambling advertising, could not provide any evidence of the need for such strict measures.
Another point from Jdigital is that Spain has one of the lowest percentages for gambling problems in Europe at 0.3%. That number was confirmed by a study launched by Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) in October. In addition, the study indicated that 84.9% of the population in Spain participate in gambling activities, but the problem gambling rate only reached 0.3%, which is extremely low.