The Spanish Gambling Sector Faces Vigorous Opposition From Alberto Garzón

Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón, is determined to undermine the success seen by the Spanish gambling sector. Despite Spain having some of the lowest problem gambling numbers in Europe and the much-needed income from the sector, Garzón continues to lambast gambling as being a public health concern with statements like:

“The regulation has to be similar to [that of] tobacco. We are not regulating the textile sector here, but a sector that has an impact on public health."

His proposal is not to ban online gambling and betting but to limit the advertising reach of the sector by imposing severe limitations on when they can be aired, where they can be aired and what can be said.

Payments Multi-Million Euro Impact

The proposal that was submitted to the European Commission for approval contained approximately 100 changes to Spain's advertising laws focused purely on the execution of gambling adverts.

Garzón called the proposal the first steps in taking the gambling sector to task for the danger it represents to the Spanish people. He glibly acknowledged that he expected it to reduce current advertising spend by 80%, which is projected at losing the Spanish marketing and advertising more than €130 million in lost revenue.

Alert Approved Royal Decree on Gambling Advertising

The Spanish government responded to the proposal submitted by Garzón on February 24th, agreeing to the following changes:

Online gambling sites can only be advertised on television and radio during a 4 hours window that runs from 1am to 5am.
All visual gambling adverts must display Responsible Gambling logos and all audio ads must play a warning about gambling addiction of no less than 2 seconds.
Betting operators may still sponsor sports teams however only the brand logo may be displayed on the team jersey. And these gambling logos may not appear on child-sized versions of the team jerseys.
Gambling operators may no longer name stadiums or sports teams after their brand.
Direct sponsorships of event locations and sports stadiums have also been made illegal under the new statutes.
Broadcasting of live sports events (where gambling brands are represented) will be allowed to be aired between 8pm-6pm however no bonuses, promotions or Calls to Action like “bet now” may be used.
Broadcasting of real-money contests (such as poker games) will be allowed between 10pm-6pm with the same restrictions in terms of promotions and Calls to Action.
Celebrities may no longer appear in gambling advertising campaigns. The Spanish government retains the right to determine who qualifies as a “celebrity” on a case by case basis but have already pointed out that they consider sports personalities and YouTubers as celebrities.

As you can see the meat of the changes focuses on limiting the access of children to gambling advertising or being influenced by a personality they look up to into becoming involved in gambling, a move we fully support.

With the massive Above the Line advertising restrictions it will be interesting to watch the Spanish market adapt to the limitations. It will most likely lead to an increase in digital advertising which could see a significant revenue boost for websites, forums and newsletters that serve the Spanish market.