No More Celebrities for Gambling Advertising

A draft of the Royal Decree on online gambling advertising, which aims to develop the current Spanish law, was published last February 24th.

The decree includes a high number of amendments to the law, and, amongst other measures, it will restrict the gambling advertising on radio and television to the time slot from 1 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. except for sporting events where the legal range is extended from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. This hour limitation will prevent the advertising i.e. in those football matches starting before 8:00 p.m. (a significant number!).

But the draft not only regulates the conditions under which online gaming operators can carry out advertising, sponsorship or promotion of their activities, but also establishes new obligations regarding the responsible gaming policies and protection of their users that they must implement such as the prohibition to use celebrities for the advertising of gambling; the special protection in spaces where minors can be influenced; not link gambling activities with success in any way or to include taglines as “bet responsibly” or “no minors”.

The fines in the new regulation can reach up to one million euros with this new regulation that it is expected to enter in force next summer.