Published: 27.02.2020, 19:54
2 min read
During the last week, the CeJuego and Jdigital communities met Alberto Garzon, Minister of Consumer Affairs of Spain. At that meeting, gaming associations discussed the government plans to cut the promotion time for radio and TV in a timeslot at 1:00 AM till 5:00 AM. Spain’s government was the principal initiator of this restriction, which relates to all the popular media channels, including web advertising.
To take effect for internet ads too, the government will release a new proposal draft within 14 days. During the meeting with the gaming community representatives, Garzon revealed the plans about the new controls would become operative this summer. After the first meeting, he also planned additional meetings with numerous gaming enterprises, media holdings, and leading gambling charities.
There’s also no unified view on whether to prohibit the land-based promotion such as brand names on various banners or the players’ uniforms. Spain’s government administration still triggers fervent discussions about the potential impact on current sponsorship and aid policy.
Spanish Gaming Industry
The first uncertainty is revaled when it comes to the statistics about the rapidly growing gambling industry in Spain during the last years. According to the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling, the gambling industry in Spain shows an annual increase of 15%. But the limitations mentioned above still raise a question: would state-ruled lotteries face limitations the same as private entities?
During the gathering, community delegates also mentioned a need for “meeting the current social issues through a meaningful discussion with the whole industry based on several kinds of research. The JDigital’s chairman, Mikel Lopez de Torre, also approved the government readiness for this dialogue and rational approach by developing more specifics on the advertising restrictions.
Likewise, the story of the Dignity Decree – Italy’s legislative act that banned the betting advertisement and helped the black market to flourish – shows us all the issues of the radical limits on the gambling industry. Mikel Lopez de Torre stated that Decree also drove players to the foreign licensed lotteries and cut the budget revenues.
To sum things up, during the meeting with gambling communities and the state, all the stakeholders agreed Spain has the lowest gaming problem level across Europe. On the other hand, the government still needs to implement the fair, equal, and balanced regulations of the gaming realities in Spain. We’ll see what happens.
