Sports betting and other games of chance will have to change their marketing techniques in Spain. The Minister of Consumer Affairs, the neocommunist Alberto Garzon, presented this Friday a decree to " strictly regulate ", according to his expression, gambling.
The restrictions relate in particular to the times of advertisements: in order to protect minors, these can only be broadcast between 1 am and 5 am, except when they accompany matches, in which case they will be accepted from 20 hours.
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Their content will in any case be limited: brands will no longer be able to directly call for betting or publish ratings or even hire celebrities to promote their products. Online bets and gaming establishments will also be prohibited from sponsoring stadiums, attaching their name to that of a team, or offering minors products signed with their logo.
The project responds to the program that Adidas Podemos (radical left), the coalition to which Garzon belongs, has negotiated with the Socialist Party (PSOE), its government partner. The pact provided for " a regulation similar to that on tobacco ". Also, despite the interventionism of the project, some consumer groups or associations of recreational playmakers say they are disappointed. It is perhaps to counter these lax reproaches that Garzon assured that " companies will lose a lot of money with this decree ".