Eurosport hit with fine and ban for breach of gambling ad rules in Finland

The broadcaster has been fined €800,000 for advertising gambling services in Finland over several years. 

Finland.- The broadcasting network Eurosport has been fined €800,000 and banned from showing gambling ads for three months after it was found to have breached ad regulations for several years. Finland’s National Police Board found that Eurosport 1 had broadcast adverts for gambling services in Finland during its commercial breaks. 

Eurosport 1 was found to have shown gambling ads in the Finnish language and with Finnish bank credentials as authentication options for several years. As such, it breached Finland’s prohibition against overseas gaming operators advertising to Finnish players.

The broadcaster has been banned from showing any gambling ads for three months. 

Anna-Emilia Sirén, senior advisor on the police board, said: “The supervision process in accordance with our legislation gives companies the opportunity to alter their operations and have their views heard. As an authority, we take the other party’s views into account, but if necessary, we prohibit the activity that we consider unlawful.

“The marketing of gambling services is strictly regulated in the Lotteries Act in order to protect consumers from the harm caused by gambling. Cross-border marketing of gambling, in violation of the Lotteries Act, aims to increase gambling and impedes achieving the goals set for the Finnish gambling system.”

Finland maintains a monopolistic gambling market, with state-controlled Veikkaus the only operator allowed to market to customers in the country. Veikkaus has suffered a downturn in sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its own reduction of slot machines numbers.

The Finnish government has submitted proposals for an overhaul of Finland’s Lottery Act to introduce even more controls on gambling. The bill proposes a ban on advertising slots and would require players to verify their identity for all gambling products.