Spain’s Supreme Court annuls certain gambling advertising restrictions

Spain’s Supreme Court has overturned a raft of gambling advertising restrictions implemented by Royal Decree 958/2020 three-and-half-years ago. 

The Supreme Court decided on 2 April to reverse or annul some of the decree’s restrictions following an appeal by industry trade association Jdigital.

The Supreme Court has annulled Article 13, sections 1 and 3, which relate to welcome offers to new players. This means that Spanish operators can target advertising to players who have had an account for under 30 days. 

Operators are also now allowed to advertise in places designated for the sale of lottery games and that are accessible by the public. 

The court’s reason for the reversal is that “there is no legal coverage” to establish the limitations outlined in the decree as they would affect “the very essence of commercial advertising, intended to offer and promote the product or service to attract new customers”.

This new ruling also annulled a major part of Article 15, which prohibited the appearance of celebrities in advertising. This means that operators can now use prominent real and fictional celebrities in their marketing campaigns.  

Section 1 of Article 23 and Section 3 of Article 25 was also overturned, which means operators can now advertise on platforms such as YouTube.

The court also removed the rules prohibiting operators from advertising on social media, so long as the user is over 18. 

Despite overturning these elements, article 12, related to sports sponsorships, remains in place. 

Around the use of celebrities in advertising, the court said that the measure “lacks legal coverage” and incurs an “excess.” The court had similar reasoning behind its decision to repeal the ban on advertising on social media and video streaming platforms. 

The stipulation that the decree’s laws were implemented to protect minors and young adults, the court said that “it is not possible to limit advertising with a general scope to an entire medium in the event that it may be used by minors”. 

Following the ruling by the Supreme Court, Jdigital said the changes are “very positive news for the association and for the online gaming sector”.

The trade body said the ruling showed that the restrictions established in the decree were “disproportionate” and did not “observe sufficient legal protection measures”.

While Jdigital is positive about the ruling, it still has concerns as the changes are limited in scope and the fact that the Advertising Code of Conduct is still in place.

This self-regulated system limits commercial advertising in the sector, restricts welcome bonuses to a maximum of €200, and prevents celebrities under the age of 25 from appearing in ads. 

The other area for concern for Jdgitial is that the Covid-19-inspired ‘horrario de madrugada’ window of 1am to 5am, which meant no advertising can be shown on TV, radio and online during this timeframe, is to stay.  

Jdigital added that while the industry welcomes these changes, it is still working towards a framework that will reinforce the sector’s commitment to protecting players and society’s most vulnerable people. 

The industry mouthpiece hopes that this latest ruling will “encourage public-provate dialogue”. Jdigital says it has offered its knowledge to the government to help create proportionate rules that help meet responsible gambling objectives.