Jdigital (Spanish Association of Digital Gambling) expressed its concern about the increase in illegal gambling in Spain after the Royal Decree on Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities came into force on 3 November.
The Spanish government has introduced new measures on gaming advertising in the country, restricting digital and audiovisual commercial communications, bonuses and sponsorship agreements.
TV and radio advertising is limited between 1 am and 5 am, age restrictions must be used online and promotional bonuses are prohibited. Betting sponsorship agreements with operators and football teams have been vetoed, and existing arrangements may continue only until the end of the Spanish 2020/21 season.
The Spanish operators’ association, Jdigital criticized the rules, suggesting that they will have the opposite effect and increase activity with the illegal market, saying that they will have “terrible consequences in terms of protecting vulnerable groups”.
Jdigital stressed: “we do not believe there is a good or bad game, as the Government is proposing, but we defend that online gambling should be a responsible leisure option, as the sector has always defended and will defend”.
The entity’s statement continues: “We consider the Royal Decree Project on Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities to be discriminatory, unfair and disproportionate, especially in a market where online gambling is a highly regulated legal activity and where the incidence rate of problematic gambling has remained stable at 0.3% of the population between 15 and 65 years of age since 2015, being one of the lowest in Europe ”.
About Jdigital
Jdigital is a non-profit association whose main objective is to care for the interests of the online gaming industry in Spain, whether users or suppliers of games.
In this sense, Jdigital focuses its work on achieving a competitive regulation that allows the development of an open and secure market according to the activity of online and mobile commerce.
