Norsk Tipping halts TV advertising for sports betting
The Norwegian operator has stopped its sports betting advertising on TV and will reduce other marketing.
Norway.- Last week, Norway’s national media regulator, Medietilsynet, reported that Discovery Europe had complied with the country’s ban on the broadcast of gambling adverts from unlicensed operators. Now Norsk Tipping, which is one of Norway’s two legal gambling operators, can legally advertise, it has announced that it’s stopping all sports betting advertising on TV.
The move is part of a series of measures from Norsk Tipping to reduce its marketing. It said it would reduce its total marketing spend and would also stop sending SMS messages to promote gambling. The operator said that with competing messages from unlicensed operators now gone, it no longer needs to market its own offer so visibly.
Norsk Tipping communications director Tonje Sagstuen said: “Now that the illegal advertising has mostly gone from Norwegian TV screens, we are adapting our visibility to the new situation, as we always do.
“Norsk Tipping will not market more than necessary, but sufficiently so that the players choose the regulated offer. We have long been wary of sports betting advertising on TV. Now we are stopping it completely.
“There is good reason to be happy about the development, especially because the illegal advertising has mainly been for online casinos and sports, i.e., the game categories most associated with gambling problems.”
Norsk Tipping said it will make online casino games less prominent on its website and app as part of its aim to direct players to gaming options that it considers to pose less risk, such as lottery.
Sagstuen said: “Ensuring that lottery games such as Lotto and Eurojackpot remain dominant in the market is central to the work to prevent gambling problems. It is therefore important that we continue to attract players to lottery products, which have a much lower risk profile than, for example, online casino.
“Stopping illegal TV advertising does not mean that the unregulated companies stop marketing. Digital media, influencers, podcasts, events, e-mail, SMS and other channels are used daily to capture customers and market shares. We have to respond to that.”
Norway’s ban on offshore gambling advertising
An amendment to Norway’s Broadcasting Act restricts gambling advertising to the state-owned monopolies of Norsk Tipping and the racing betting operator Rikstoto. Medietilsynet refused to review the ban despite complaints from broadcasters.
The media company’s local partners had previously fought against the ban, which affects Discovery’s European channels MAX, VOX, FEM and Eurosport.
As a result, the regulator had ordered the Norwegian TV providers Telia, Telenor, RiksTV and Altibox to cease broadcasting Discovery’s channels by August 15. However, Medietilsynet director Mari Velsand has now said that Discovery had agreed to comply with Norwegian legislation and stop gambling adverts from being shown in the country.
It follows Viasat Group, which had already accepted the rules of the Broadcasting Act.
