GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 44 - July 2019

Sweden is one of the most recent jurisdictions to regulate internet gambling, starting in January 2019. There, too, the advertising conditions are strict. The Swedish regulator has stated that it wishes to prevent “excessive advertising,” but has not defined what constitutes “excessive.” But what the regulator has made clear is that “a violation of the requirement of moderation [in advertising] is typically considered to be serious. The sanction that may be applicable in an individual case depends on several different factors, such as how long the infringement has been going on.” License holders in the Swedish market will have to be very careful in their promotional activities. The gambling trade associations have already moved to compile a code of conduct. One section deals with marketing via affiliates. It states that license holders are ultimately responsible for all content published on their behalf. They must ensure affiliates know the marketing guidelines and abide by them. For affiliates who wish to work with licensed operators, any restriction on gambling promotion is clearly a hindrance. Total advertising bans are hard to mitigate, but in jurisdic- tions where the bans are partial (e.g., on broadcast media only) or where strict guidelines are in place, affiliates have an opportunity to demonstrate that they can be responsible, meet the necessary compliance standards and play a useful role in marketing efforts. iGaming operators have gotten much better at generating traffic through their own content. If they feel that dealing with third parties is too much of a risk to their license, they will reduce their reliance on affiliates. Affiliates, therefore, have to reassert their value and relevance to operators. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The tightening of marketing activities is part of the process of iGaming regulation, which also encompasses more focus on social responsibility and gambling’s perceived “duty of care” COVER STORY A cap on what customers can spend on a game influences what operators are willing to spend in acquiring them . It also restricts what can be offered to third parties like affiliates. MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP OF GAMBLING Across several European jurisdictions, a general trend is developing for the restriction of gambling advertising. The most severe case has been in Italy, where a bill was passed last summer that banned all gambling advertising by any media from 1 January 2019 (or 30 June 2019 for existing contracts). In the U.K., partial advertising restrictions have been self-imposed, perhaps in the hope of heading off a more widespread, government-mandated ban. What has been mutually agreed upon is a voluntary “whistle to whistle” ban on pre-watershed television gambling adverts during live sports. The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) will amend its advertising code, and the ban comes into force this summer. G P W A t i m e s . o r g 26