Norwegian regulator to pursue foreign advertising blackout

The Norwegian Gaming Authority (Lotteritilsynet) said it will work with the country’s Media Authority to stamp out advertising from foreign companies after a previous warning went unheeded.

Last year the Lotteritilsynet sent a letter to more than 20 egaming operators including Unibet, Mr Green, Leo Vegas and PokerStars to remind the firms of Norway’s gambling laws and request they adapt their operations and marketing.

But in a blog post yesterday, Lotteritilsynet’s senior adviser Monica Alisøy Kjelsnes said the letter had little impact and the authority would explore other means to prevent advertising from foreign operators.

“The authority asked foreign gaming companies to respect Norwegian law and cease to provide and market gaming in Norway,” Kjelsnes said. “This has not happened and we see that they are increasingly adopting new methods to promote turnover in Norway.”

The new measures will see the Lotteritilsynet working alongside the Norwegian Media Authority to explore whether it would be possible to use an existing EU directive to prevent foreign marketing.

But Peter Alling, Unibet’s public affairs manager for the Nordics, told eGaming Review the firm’s marketing in Norway does not breach the law.

“From Unibet’s point of view we are always very diligent to ensure we are not in breach of national laws in the fuller legal context including European Union regulations,” Alling said.

“We are confident we are not in breach of Norwegian law as it should be interpreted in light of European Union regulations,” he added.

Alling said Norway was attempting to override European Union broadcast harmonisation directives by arguing that entities outside of Norway should abide by Norwegian gaming laws, warning that if the law is in non-compliance with the directive then the country has a “big problem”.

But speaking to eGR, a spokesperson for the Lotteritilsynet said TV advertising from unlicensed operators has become an “increasing problem” in recent years, although admitted it was unclear whether a ban would succeed.

“Whether the Media Authority will be successful in the attempt to stop the illegal advertising is considered an open question,” the spokesperson said.

“Norwegian authorities will send letters to Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain in a short time. That means we will know the answers in December,” the spokesperson added.

eGR understands the Lotteritilsynet has already written to Ofcom asking for it to crackdown on those advertising in Norway on several occasions and has been rebuffed each time. The authority said it would it have to wait until December to see whether this attempt succeeds.

Other markets have successfully implemented media blackouts in the past. In July the GB Gambling Commission said arrangements with advertisers and platforms including Facebook and Google were “working well” at disrupting the small number of unlicensed operators targeting British players.

And in June the Dutch regulator reached an agreement with eight of the country’s biggest media groups to ban advertising from unlicensed operators in a deal it said would cover 80-90% of all TV broadcasts in the country.