Is an Online Gambling Adpocalypse Headed for Spain?

A few years ago, online advertising bans hit social media and video platforms like YouTube like a tsunami. This tidal wave swept away most of what was then a thriving industry, leading online content creators to coin the term 'adpocalypse'.

Despite a recent court ruling that online gambling advertising restrictions be lessened, Spain’s Minister of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, has announced his intentions to make the market even more restrictive for licensed online casinos and betting operators.

 A Royal Decree to Bind Them All

March 2023 saw the Spanish government write an amended version of the Royal Decree on Responsible Gaming Environments into force. This new version of the regulations set out the guidelines for federal advertising and promotional restrictions for online gambling products.

The approved restrictions included:

1. Only showing gambling ads on Spanish media between 1 am and 5 am.
2. No gambling sponsors for professional sports teams or players.
3. No marketing of welcome bonuses and other sign-up inducements.
4. No post-sign-up promotional offers for players under the age of 25.
5. Direct messages to at-risk players about their gameplay patterns.
6. No credit card deposits for players deemed at-risk.
7. No promoting the casino VIP program.

At the same time, the Spanish government doubled its budget for responsible gambling initiatives to €2.2 million, proving its commitment to creating a safer gambling marketplace.

A Short-Lived Breath of Fresh Air

While we can all applaud a gambling regulator that proactively pursues player safety, there must be a balance. In practice, implementing these restrictions limited the right to choose for financially responsible adult gamblers looking to play online slots, blackjack, or bet on their favourite sports team legally.

The restrictions on advertising and bonuses reduced the ability of licensed online casinos to get their brand in front of Spanish players. At the same time, they opened the door for unregulated gambling sites to swoop in and fill the space with their offers, leading to an increase in black market gambling. This put the players at risk, weakened the legal market, and saw cash funnelled offshore—a loss for all parties except the unregulated operations, who chose not to play by the rules.

However, in April 2024, in response to an appeal by the Spanish Digital Gaming Association (Jdigital), the Supreme Court ruled to roll back some limitations to allow the market to find a much-needed balance between safety and viability.

Some of these easements included lifting the 1 am to 5 am casino advertising time slots for ads shown on YouTube, the appearance of celebrities in gambling advertising, and the right to send promotional news to players with accounts newer than 30 days.

While it wasn’t a complete annulment of Royal Decree 958/2020, it went a long way to allowing the market to breathe a sigh of relief and plan for a brighter future.

 Sound the Adpocalypse Sirens

The Supreme Court’s ruling has raised the ire of Bustinduy, who has been driving Spain’s harshening online gambling reforms since mid-2023.

The Social Rights and Consumer Affairs minister addressed the local media and the Directorate General of Gambling Regulation (DGOJ). He will see the ruling overturned in favour of reinstating the status quo and adding even more restrictive measures.

The Supreme Court clarified that while the right to make determinations about advertising in Spain does fall into the purview of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, it must do so by creating clear new laws, not enforcing at-will limitations as the current restrictions appear to be.

Bustinduy has acknowledged this requirement and has begun outlining legislation for casino bonuses for those under 25 and the use of celebrities in casino advertising campaigns. He also noted that he intends to ban loot boxes in video games, create a central player registry, enforce stringent marketing campaign compliance, and create unique risk profiles for players aged 18 to 25.

While most of this sounds good on paper, the minister has proven to be anti-gambling and, as such, does not have a good track record of applying his laws in a way that respects the autonomy of players or the investment that casino businesses have made in Spain.