Spain to ban gambling football shirt sponsorship
The Spanish government’s final proposals go further than initially expected, banning gambling bonuses and football shirt sponsorship.
Spain.- The Spanish government has notified the European Commission of its draft regulations on gambling promotion and advertising. The new restrictions are tighter than initially expected, banning sign-up bonuses and football shirt sponsorship.
According to the final draft of the Royal Decree on the Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities, gambling firms will be prohibited from placing branding on sports teams’ shirts and from buying naming rights to stadiums, events or competitions.
Television and radio advertising will be restricted to between 1am and 5am, with an expected exception to allow advertising during evening sports events being dropped from the final draft.
Sign-up bonuses will also be banned, with operators only allowed to send promotions to players that have had an account for at least a month, have been subject to ID checks and have made at least three deposits.
The regulations effectively reintroduce as permanent restrictions the temporary measures that were brought in during Spain’s Covid-19 lockdown, which were revoked once lockdown restrictions were eased at the end of June.
The only gambling advertising allowed earlier than 1am will be for prize draw contests in which players pay an entry stake, which will be allowed to advertise after 10pm as long as it’s during programming that is not suitable for under 18s.
