Spain unanimously approves ad restrictions despite domestic and international opposition
Royal Decree clears final hurdle as trade body Jdigital slams "ideological crusade" of country's coalition government
Spain’s Council of State has rubberstamped some of Europe’s most restrictive gambling advertising laws.
The Royal Decree on Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities was unanimously approved by the council on 3 November, having already been given the go ahead by the European Commission.
The change in regulation puts Spanish gambling advertising rules on a par with those being employed in Italy, which banned all forms of gambling advertising, except for state lottery ads, in July 2018.
“Until now there has been no regulation of the advertising of the game,” said Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs Alberto Garzon. “Until now we have lived in the law of the jungle, where anything can be done.”
El #RealDecreto establece medidas para restringir la exposición de menores y sectores vulnerables a los anuncios de apuestas
Por primera vez, la protección es integral: desde TV hasta webs, equiparando el tratamiento de la publicidad convencional con internet.#JuegoLimpio pic.twitter.com/CnBGXpBdHe
— Secretaría General de Consumo y Juego (@consumogob) November 3, 2020
The ministry has confirmed the law will enter into force the day after its publication in the Spanish Official Gazette. Operators found in violation of the new rules will be subject to fines of between €100,000 and €1m (£900k).
Perhaps the most restrictive of these new rules is a blanket ban on sponsorship of sports teams by gambling operators.
Last month, Garzon wrote to the heads of 25 Spanish football clubs warning they would have until September 2021 to terminate existing relationships with bookmakers.
Spanish football clubs have already stated their opposition to the ban, while Spanish trade association Jdigital claimed the new rules were “unwarranted” in July.
In addition to the blanket ban on sponsorships, the Covid-19-inspired ‘horario de madrugada’ window of 1am to 5am will also be reimposed across television, radio and online, with welcome bonuses to players now banned under the new rules.
In response, Spain’s operator trade association Jdigital called a press conference to say the government is on an “ideological crusade” to implement crushing restrictions against the country’s gambling market.
“The consequences in economic terms to the Spanish market could be devastating,” Jdigital CEO Andrea Vota claimed.
“We had a much better relationship with the previous government, which had looked to implement softer reforms which would not cripple the industry, but we’ve had virtually no communication with this government which has not answered our calls,” Vota added.
Vota confirmed to EGR that Jdigital was “99.9%” certain to launch a lawsuit against both the Spanish government and potentially the DGOJ regulator as well.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) also voiced its opposition to the Royal Decree, suggesting the new rules would be discriminatory to international operators and overtly favour state-owned lottery operators, the latter of which are exempt from the regulations.
As justification for this stance, the EGBA cited Spanish Association of Advertisers (AEA) data which showed that state-run lotteries accounted for more than a third of Spain’s gambling advertising spend, while generating 65% of total Spanish gross gambling revenue (GGR).
“We urge the Spanish government to reconsider its advertising restrictions because there is a lack of data to support the measures and the granting of advertising privileges to state-run companies over private ones could potentially be in conflict with EU state aid rules,” EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer said.
“The restrictions clearly discriminate against private companies and favour the economic interests of the state-run lotteries, who are by far the country’s leading advertisers in the gambling sector.
“While the EGBA fully supports responsible advertising, the scope and type of restrictions proposed are not justified by the evidence available, including the country’s relatively low problem gambling rate and the significantly lower public awareness towards gambling advertising compared to other major advertising sectors,” Haijer added.