Ireland-facing operators dealt new advertising restrictions
Watchdog adds betting section to new advertising code as operators get to grips with newly regulated market
The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) is to introduce greater restrictions on gambling advertisements, outlawing spots which portray gambling as an escape from personal problems or an answer to financial issues.
For the first time the ASAI has included a dedicated a section to gambling in the latest edition of its code, which is due to come into force on 1 March 2016. Among the marketing tactics prohibited are any claims that gambling is a rite of passage or attempts to link it to sexual success.
It also bans adverts which suggest gambling is “an escape from personal, professional or educational problems such as loneliness or depression”.
The changes are not believed to have been prompted by any particular incident, but rather as a way of ensuring future compliance.
“There have been many complaints over the years in relation to gambling adverts so these changes are likely to be in response to that criticism,” Joe Kelly, a partner at A&L Goodbody, told eGaming Review.
“Most operators adopt responsible marketing practices and the regulations are not overly onerous, so the impact on operators should be minimal,” Kelly added.
The ASAI has upheld only a handful of gambling related complaints in recent months, the most recent of which related to a free bet offer made by Paddy Power in an email to customers which the authority deemed misleading.
Accordingly operators are unlikely to have to radically shift their marketing practices when the news rules are introduced.
“We welcome the new regulations from the ASAI which we see as being in line not only with good practice but with common sense,” a spokesperson from Boylesports told eGaming Review, adding that its campaigns already comply with the new rules.
“Our only concern would be that these regulations are applied not only to Irish companies but to foreign companies operating in the Irish market,” the spokesperson added.
Ireland recently regulated the country’s online betting market with the likes of Ladbrokes, 888 and bet365 obtaining licences along with Irish firms BoyleSports and Paddy Power.