The game’s Spanish regulator said the “social alarm” supported the government’s plans to seriously limit the ability of online gaming operators to advertise their products to Spanish gamblers.
On Monday, Mikel Arana, who appointed in May to head the gambling regulator Directorate General of Game Management (DGOJ) in Spain, gave his first public interview in this role to the local media outlet El Diario. The discussion focused largely on Spain’s plans to restrict advertising to a five-hour window at night and ban sports sponsorships.
Arana said Spain was already suffering from “excessive advertising” of gaming products before the country closed through COVID-19, but that the forced imprisonment of Spaniards of all ages convinced the masses that the degrees of advertising were “a genuine exaggeration” of what they wanted.
Arana justified the government’s plan to eliminate welcome bonuses because “the highest percentage of new players is the 18- to 21-year-old age group,” whose personalities are “unfinished” and “more likely to react to advertising and have problematic consumption.”
LET SPORTS CLUBS, THE MEDIA EAT CAKES
As for banning game operators from signing agreements to put their brands on T-shirts or sports stadiums, Arana Clos said there were “millions of additional sponsorships” in addition to the game that sports clubs can sign. Arana has designated the Royal League of the Angels League as a football operator without the sponsorship of gambling and has controlled being “financially solvent”.
Arana claimed that the government had sent many signals about its sponsorship intentions and that the clubs had sufficient time to prepare for the new reality. Arana also asked football clubs if they did not see an “apparent” clash of interests between sports sponsoring bookmakers. Arana said the crash “is so obvious that it doesn’t even last 30 seconds of discussion.”
Arana expressed the same disregard for the losses that media corporations would suffer as a result of the loss of advertising revenue, and stated: “Ten years ago, there was no advertising for online operators [under Spanish license] and the media existed. Arana said there might be at first, there will be “anxiety,” but the media will have “time to adjust and look for other investment options.”
Spain plans to stay ahead of the UK by banning credit card gambling, while contemplating a similar ban on the use of debit cards and applying a limit to online gambling deposits. While Spain would like to adopt these restrictions next year, Arana stated that this will require discussions with banks and operators, which may be the schedule.
THE TUBE IS DAMAGED
Spanish betting teams have warned that the proposed promotional limits will only succeed in diverting Spanish players from locally authorized sites to authorized alternatives around the world. This view was reflected in a one issued on Friday through the European Gambling and Betting Association, which described Spain’s plans as “highly counterproductive” to the government’s stated objectives.
Arana admitted that unauthorized online gambling has increased its market percentage over the past two years, but there has not been a “significant” accumulation in the speed of this expansion, blocking COVID-19.
Arana extra stated that “the risk that everything regulated by the legal market will involve a accumulation of illegal betting is not real.” Arana warned operators that gambling “must be regulated, whether parallel sectors stand up or not.
MOVE, NO LOTTERY FAVORITISM TO SEE HERE
Arana stated that the advertising exclusions of public lottery operators SELAE and ONCE were not a case of favoritism, as they were non-profit operations. Arana also claimed that lottery winnings were “deferred” and less likely to produce “problematic consumption.” (Arana is intentionally ignorant or willing to minimize reliance on local lotteries on instant scratch cards.)
SELAE showed off its privileged status last week by rolling out its new Christmas Lottery marketing campaign the same day that Spain unveiled its proposed advertising restrictions. Clearly intent on thumbing its nose at its private rivals, SELAE also announced new sponsorship deals with the Real Federacíon Española de Tenis and the Federacíon Española de Pelota.
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