Lithuania: Unigames and Betsson join list of operators fined under promotion ban
The Gambling Supervisory Authority has fined Unigames and Betsson’s Betsafe for breaching Lithuania’s ban on gambling promotion.
Lithuania.- The Gambling Supervisory Authority has fined another two operators for breaching Lithuania’s ban on gambling promotion. Unigames and Betsson’s Betsafe are the latest operators to fall foul of the rules after Amber Gaming, Top Sport and UAB Nordic’s Optibet brand were recently fined for breaches.
The Lithuanian ban introduced last year doesn’t completely prohibit advertising, but it does forbid anything that incentivises gambling. Promotional special events, bonuses, discounts and gifts are prohibited, but in the case of Optibet, the offence was to send out an email about an update to terms and conditions.
In the latest case, Unigames was fined €12,662 and Betsson €25,000. The operators were also warned that they could have their licences suspended if the offending messages were not removed from their sites by June 20.
The regulator found fault with phrases on Betsafe’s website that told players to “immerse yourself in a live betting vortex” and a claim that the site has “the most valuable offers and promotions in one place”. It also criticised a page about the history of Betsafe.
It said all of these “aimed to draw attention to the company, its offer, persuading and encouraging people to participate in the company’s games”.
As for Unigames, the authority found that its site detailed its live casino offering and told players they could “choose from 1,000+ casino games”. Again, these messages “aimed to draw attention to the company, its offer, persuading and encouraging persons to participate in the company’s games, which is considered to encourage participation in games”.
In March, the Gambling Supervisory Authority fined Lošimų Strateginė Grupė and UAB Olympic Casino Group Baltija €25,000 for publishing details of a poker tournament on their websites. Meanwhile, Optibet was fined for sending out a newsletter updating 10,600 customers about a change in terms and conditions. The regulator formed the opinion that the email constituted gambling promotion.
Top Sport received a fine of €25,000 for including on its site the phrases: “Bet whether Kaunas Žalgiris will triumph in the LKL championship and whether Žalgiris will advance to the Euroleague final four”, “With Top Sport you can place a wide range of sports bets”, “Choose one of more than 400 games and claim impressive winnings” and “Guess how far Vilnius Rytas will go in the FIBA Champions League and whether it will advance to the LKL final”.
Gambling revenue rises in Lithuania
Despite the new restrictions on promotion, Lithuanian gambling revenue continues to grow, rising by 90 per cent year-on-year to €43.4m in the first quarter of 2022. Part of the rise can be explained by the return of land-based gaming after Covid-19 lockdowns, but online gaming revenue also rose, up 16.7 per cent year-on-year to €26.8m.
