Advertisement, especially in gambling, is big business - in the five years following deregulation in 2007, the number of ads on TV increased by 600%. However, the regulation of advertising is varied across the world, with a lot of countries currently in the process of tightening their regulations.
Here's a brief look at the different laws on gambling advertisement from different countries worldwide.
United Kingdom:
Currently, there is no legislation on gambling advertising in the UK. However, there is an agreement that gambling companies are not allowed to advertise before the 9pm watershed. There's an exception though for live sports. This can include football at prime time, and events like cricket and Formula 1 that often takes place in the morning. An analysis of the 2018 World Cup matches on ITV found that almost all of the ad breaks contained at least one betting advert.
During the tournament, a lot of the games kicked off mid-afternoon/early evening, and being one of the biggest events of the year, attracted large audiences which include under-18s.
There are calls for change to all of this, with the Labour party announcing new plans for greater regulation in September. If they were to come into power, they would bring in a 'whistle to whistle' ban on gambling adverts during live sport, amongst a whole host of other measures.
However, Terry White, a campaigner who previously suffered from a gambling addiction, isn’t convinced over the UK’s approach.
“We are by far and away the worst for number of ads, type of ads especially in-play and also the amount of free bets given to induce new clients is a worry," he said.
"They offer far, far too much initially to get people in and that needs regulating better as it seems like free money but isn’t.”
United States:
In the USA, gambling is legal under federal law, but many states have their own laws that make it illegal for all or some types of gambling. In terms of sports betting, it's only legal in the states of Delaware, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Despite this, the American Gaming Association estimates that yearly Americans bet $150 billion on sports each year. In recent years, there's been a back and forth nature to gambling regulation in the US, with the most recent crackdown coming in 2003. There's no law explicitly prohibiting gambling ads, but advertisers have bene threatened with charges of aiding and abetting a crime.
Australia:
The tide is turning on gambling in Australia. More and more people are starting to turn against the gambling industry, venting their frustrations on social media. A quick Twitter search for “gambling Australia” will show up dozens of negative tweets or news story about regulation.
This is a far cry considering that the nation is thought by some as ‘the gambling capital of the world’ – spending A$24bn (£14bn) on gambling in a year (source: BBC News). Considering this, the government are currently trying to bring in new laws to crack down on this.
The Interactive Gambling Bill of 2016 outlawed gambling adverts during live sporting events that take place between 5am and 8.30pm. The blackout runs from five minutes before the start to five minutes after the final whistle – for all sports other than horse & dog racing. However, there’s an exception for ‘low audience’ channels. On top of this, the law will not apply to online advertising, although there are plans to tackle this separately.
The IGB also put an end to in-play betting – one of the most addictive forms.
Belgium:
Belgium is pathing the way in Europe for further regulation on the betting industry. New legislation has recently received Royal Decree, and implementation is believed to be coming in June 2019. This is largely thanks to Justice Minister Koen Geens, as well as the notoriously strict Belgium Gaming Commission.
The new plans will put a blanket ban on gambling adverts during live sports broadcasts – this is across TV, radio and webcasts. It will also be generally prohibited before the 8pm watershed. However, gaming firms will be allowed to run ads immediately before and after afternoon sports broadcasts, as long as they include responsible gambling messaging and reminders that legal gambling is subject to age restrictions.
There must not be any gambling adverts during programming primarily aimed at a youth audience, or within 15 minutes before or after any of these programmes. It will also be prohibited for gambling adverts on sports equipment of youth sports teams and leagues.
Italy:
The picture is slightly more complicated in Italy, however. Legislation has passed parliament which could ban “sponsorship agreements and any other type of communication of promotional content” from 1st January 2019. There’s debate over the wording of that, with some thinking it completely prohibits any form of gambling advertisement. However, there’s also public debate over the legality of the law, and whether there are loopholes that could be exploited.
Time will tell whether Italy can bring these new laws into effect, and also whether other countries will bring in more regulation.
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