Staff Reporter
Anyone familiar with gambling in Ireland will know that proposed changes will be coming to gambling laws. With some far reaching regulation being proposed for the country, it has divided people on whether it will be helpful to those it is aimed at.
What some may not know is that other countries in the EU have already made quite sweeping changes to its betting regulation. This includes Spain, who brought in some very strict regulation in 2020.
Is Ireland taking inspiration from Spain when it comes to these regulations, and what does it mean for those who will be both operating and enjoying gambling products under these rules?
The Changes Made To Spanish Betting Regulations
In November 2020, the Spanish Royal Decree 958 / 2020 was brought into law. This decree was mainly aimed to reduce how much children are exposed to gambling advertising, and protect them from potential problem gambling.
The laws brought into legislation were very far reaching, and as you can imagine were not popular with those involved with the Spanish gambling scene. The restrictions meant that gambling operators could not advertise at all on certain platforms, including at sporting events and sporting arenas. It also restricted when the adverts could be ran on TV and radio, meaning that their adverts could only be seen between 1am and 5am every day. It is expected that bookmakers will still be allowed advertise online and through platforms like Ivea.
The laws even restricted who could be in the adverts that were run for gambling products. Thanks to some amendments to the regulations, celebrities both real or fictional were not allowed to be in these adverts at all.
Proposed Changes To Irish Betting Legislation
Ireland are facing some very similar proposals for gambling advertising restrictions in their country as well. Currently these ideas have not made their way into law yet, but the idea behind them is very similar. The aim is to protect those who are at risk of problem gambling, which does include children.
These restrictions include the restriction of promotions and bonuses to existing members of a betting site, and very similar restrictions to gambling advertising country wide.
Another interesting proposal being put forward is that of the National Self Exclusion Register. The idea of this register is to allow a person to self-exclude from one or more betting brand as needed. This already exists at some of the popular bookies in Ireland, but a mandatory system will likely bring changes for some of the smaller brands.
As such, those who are gambling fans in Ireland will be watching Spain right now, and the repercussions of their law changes.
The Reaction To Spain’s Gambling Restrictions
So what happened after the restrictions were made to gambling in Spain? It is very interesting to note that after the amendments were made to it, in 2022, certain elements of the bands were actually repealed.
The repeals to these laws referred to some of the more drastic measures taken by them. For example, the use of celebrities and gambling advertising, the restrictions on certain communications such as references to social status, and the depiction of money or luxury goods in advertising were all initially restricted. These were then repealed, so in theory all of these aspects can now be used in gambling adverts again.
While a lot of the aspects of these laws were repealed, some bans have still remained in place. The ban on sports sponsorship is still in place, so gambling products cannot advertise or use branding for events goods or services. They are also still not allowed to sponsor sporting events or broadcasts. These have remained in place in order to protect children from being exposed to gambling products.
What This Means For Ireland
So what does this mean for Ireland and it’s proposed changes to gambling laws? Irish law makers would be smart to look to Spain to see how they have handled such restrictions. While very strict restrictions were initially put into place, eventually they had to be repealed because there was not enough legal evidence behind having them in law.
Those who are opposed to the proposed changes in Ireland will be glad to see this, as there are many concerns about how gambling will be changed in the country under these laws. Laws in many cases could actually hinder the effort to protect those from problem gambling rather than help it.
For example, with the self-exclusion bill that is proposed, people would have to self exclude themselves from one or more brands. With the self exclusion measures that are already available on betting sites, you will see that they actually enable members to self-exclude from all setting brands. This bill would actually not be as helpful as what is available right now.
With Spain already having made changes to gambling laws, and then having to have repealed some of those laws, Ireland can see the effects of some of the proposals being made right now. Hopefully this will be kept in mind when the proposal makes its way to court.
